Helpline Foundation wants cancer defeated

As the world marks the 2020 World Cancer Day (WCD), a non-governmental organisation based in Abuja, Helpline Foundation for the Needy, has called for political will from government at all levels to combat one of the world’s most dreaded diseases. President and founder of the group, Dr Jumai Ahmadu, who made the call at a […]

As the world marks the 2020 World Cancer Day (WCD), a non-governmental organisation based in Abuja, Helpline Foundation for the Needy, has called for political will from government at all levels to combat one of the world’s most dreaded diseases.

President and founder of the group, Dr Jumai Ahmadu, who made the call at a press conference as part of activities to mark the Day also advocated for personal commitment and individual action to be taken to defeat cancer.

She said the World Cancer Day was designed to save millions of preventable deaths each year by raising awareness and education about cancer, noting that the day also serves as an occasion to push governments and individuals across the globe to take action against the disease.

Speaking on the 2020 theme, ‘I Am and I Will’, Ahmadu described the theme as apt, stressing that the battle against cancer is a collective responsibility of government and the people.

She called for early diagnosis, treatment and palliative care, noting that an estimated 40 per cent of deaths from cancer are preventable if awareness and early treatment is intensified.

«We at Helpline Foundation for the Needy are disturbed because, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), if the incidence of cancer continues to grow at the reported cases, the number of deaths worldwide from cancer will increase to more than 13.1 million by 2030,» she stated.

Ahmadu equally expressed concern over the global statistics showing that more than 70 percent of deaths from cancer, occur in economically less-developed countries, and called on developing countries to design mechanisms for drawing attention to cancer prevention and treatment in their respective states.