UCH boss tasks wealthy Nigerians on cancer

Worried by the rate of cancer in the country, particularly among Nigerian women, the Chief Medical Director (CMD) of the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, Professor Temitope Alonge  has called on  wealthy Nigerians and lawmakers  to assist in curtailing the disease. According to the CMD, necessary enlightenment, diagnosis and treatment of the disease requires joint […]

Worried by the rate of cancer in the country, particularly among Nigerian women, the Chief Medical Director (CMD) of the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, Professor Temitope Alonge  has called on  wealthy Nigerians and lawmakers  to assist in curtailing the disease.
According to the CMD, necessary enlightenment, diagnosis and treatment of the disease requires joint efforts by all, to reduce the disease in the country.
Professor Alonge made the appeal in Ibadan, while speaking with journalists shortly after the opening session of a week-long international scientific seminar on cancer holding at the teaching hospital.
The seminar which has as its theme “The Role of Pathologists in Oncologic Diagnosis and Management”, was organised by the West African Division International Academy of Pathology (WADIAP) in conjunction with United States and  Canadian Academy of Pathology, Friends of Africa and AORTIC.
In his address, Professor Alonge said funding remains key in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer especially among women, saying that as much as the UCH and its medical personnel are ready to enlighten people about the disease and offer treatment, wealthy individuals and politicians need to offer their own assistance too.
President, West African Division International Academy of Pathology (WADIAP), Col. Dr.Yawale Illiyasu (Rtd), suggested the creation of six diagnostic centres across Nigeria to assist in the early detection of cancer among women in the country as, according to him, “prevention is always better and cheaper than cure.”
The resource persons at the seminar included the guest lecturer, Professor Steffen Hauptmann of Institute of Pathology Hamburg, Lademannbogen, Hamburg, Germany; Professor Adekunle Adesina of Baylor College of Medicine, Houston Texas and Dr. Oyedele Adeyi of University of Toronto, Canada, among others.
They all emphasized the need for all hands to be on deck to curb the spread of breast, cervical and liver cancer among women in the West Africa sub region, especially in Nigeria.
They called for collaboration among public and private sectors in the funding of diagnosis and treatment of the  and massive enlightenment of the women  on the need to make themselves readily available for test adding that this has contributed immensely to the reduction of cancer cases in Europe.