Cancer: Prevention is wiser than treatment

Then he was 50, but the damage had already been done. Doctors said some surgery could help, and his family rallied in support.His diagnosis came after several visits to numerous hospitals and doctors unable to tell him what was wrong.“My saving grace came when I was referred to University Teaching Hospital, Ogbomosho,” Jones told Daily […]

Then he was 50, but the damage had already been done.
Doctors said some surgery could help, and his family rallied in support.
His diagnosis came after several visits to numerous hospitals and doctors unable to tell him what was wrong.
“My saving grace came when I was referred to University Teaching Hospital, Ogbomosho,” Jones told Daily Trust.
“Before then I was constantly having serious stomach pains and losing weight, I was a shadow of myself, I had no appetite at all.”
Jones had surgery, followed by long months of painful treatment—injections and chemotherapy.
But Maryam Sani was not so lucky. When she showed up for treatment at the hospital, her breast cancer was already at an advanced stage.
She was advised to cut off the affected breast to stop the spread, said her sister Zainab who narrated the story to Daily Trust.
“My sister was a young girl in her late 30s, not married and not even in a relationship. Can you imagine what it took to make that decision?
“Unfortunately after the first surgery, the cancer still spread to the second breast and other parts of her body though she was undergoing chemo.
“We lost her, I think the pain was too much for her. What a loss—all the funds gone and yet she did not survive.”
Many people do not show up early for treatment until too late, making treatment options difficult and quite expensive.
The Minister of Health, Professor Christian Onyebuchi Chukwu, speaking on non-communicable disease lamented that treatment options were quite expensive where available.
According to him, the best option is to imbibe healthy living habits and spend funds on preventive measures.
The Union for Treatment Cancer Control, Geneva has noted that the reaction of relatives aggravate the situation of patients.
“Talking about cancer to partners, family members, friends and colleagues can help to alleviate these feelings and yet many people find it difficult,” it said.
Speaking on why people present late for treatment, the organisation said stigma and discrimination that may stop them from seeking care.
“Negative public perception of cancer can stifle informed public discussion and perpetuate a cycle of fear and misinformation that hinders raising awareness about cancer prevention and importance of early detection,” it noted.
In a bid to reduce the incidence of non-communicable diseases, the former minister of the Federal Capital Territory Dr Aliyu Modibbo pushed through a ban on smoking in public places in 2009, insisting smokers were much a danger to themselves and those around them.
The gesture was later copied by the Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola in Febuary’s ban on public place smoking.
Khana Rogo, a health specialist with World Health Organisation, notes that one of Nigeria’s greatest challenges is inability to implement existing policies.
They are excellent but lying fallow on shelves, he said.
For many Nigerians, a healthier lifestyle is a better option—if they know early what to do.
Jones laments that if he had known that his years of abusing tobacco and alcohol would damage his colons, he would have been careful.
It is a painful reality that many Nigerians are ignorant about how they can protect themselves from cancer, say experts.
Government needs a lot of advocacy and enlightenment to educate people on how best to protect themselves from non-communicable diseases, said Dr Osahon Enabulele, President of Nigerian Medical Association, in a recent interview with Daily Trust.
“Knowledge is power; if enlightened, people can protect themselves,” he said.
Organised labour wants heavy government tax on products considered harmful to health—like tobacco and alcohol—as part of preventive strategies, said Musa Lawal of Nigeria Trade Union Congress.
“Such proceeds can be used to pay for care for the vulnerable and those affected by diseases not covered by their insurance,” he said.