Bagudu kicks over rising cancer cases among teenage girls

The wife of Kebbi State Governor, Dr Zainab Shinkafi Bagudu, has call for collective efforts to stem the rising cases of cancer among Nigerian women especially teenage girls. Bagudu who is the founder of the Medicaid Cancer Foundation (MCF) made the plea on Friday in Abuja at a news conference as part of activities of […]

The wife of Kebbi State Governor, Dr Zainab Shinkafi Bagudu, has call for collective efforts to stem the rising cases of cancer among Nigerian women especially teenage girls.

Bagudu who is the founder of the Medicaid Cancer Foundation (MCF) made the plea on Friday in Abuja at a news conference as part of activities of the 2017 cancer awareness programme scheduled for Kebbi between October 11 and 13 with the theme: ‘Kick and Walkway Cancer’.

She said the official figure of over 250,000 cases of reported cancer means that the cases are higher with many unreported cases.

Dr. Bagudu said the foundation will train health workers from Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamfara on cancer screening and will carry out activities marking the day in both Kebbi and Abuja, which includes a novelty football match.

 “The lack of awareness and access to care among cancer patients in Nigeria is worrisome. Although globally there are breakthroughs in the fight against cancer, Nigerians do not easily access them due to resource constraints and lack of awareness.

“In furtherance to our earnest desire of achieving the foundation’s set objectives, all our activities are in line with the national policy on cancer control. And interestingly, we have achieved all these by accessing donor grants and organizing fundraising events throughout the year but with more zeal in October, which is designated breast cancer awareness month globally,” Dr. Bagudu said.

Also speaking, the Chief Operating Officer of MCF, Dr Suraiya Mansur, said it is important to prioritise cancer awareness for early diagnoses and treatments especially in the grassroots.