The wife of the President, Aisha Buhari, has called on Nigerians to take action against cancer, a disease that’s ravaging the world.
She made the call in Abuja, at the annual five-kilometre “Walk Away Cancer” organised by Medicaid Cancer Foundation (MCF).
In Nigeria, an estimated 72,000 cancer deaths occur annually, and 102,000 new cases are diagnosed from its population of about 200 million people.
Globally, cancer is a major leading health ailment with an estimated 10 million incidences and six million deaths annually.
Aisha Buhari urged Nigerians on the need for regular check-ups and early detection of cancer to save lives.
The Kebbi State Governor, Abubakar Bagudu, on his part acknowledged cancer as a complicated disease with expensive cost for treatment.
He said his wife and founder of Medicaid Cancer Foundation had advocated for the inclusion of cancer treatment in the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) as a way to take action against cancer.
He said all of these were progress made through the high level advocacy to help the common man that cannot afford to pay out of pocket for cancer treatment.
The Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire sensitised Nigerians to the dangers associated with the disease and the need for early discovery.
Ehanire, represented by Dr, Adebimpe Adebiyi, Director and Head of Department of Hospital Services in the ministry said early diagnosis would improve cancer treatment outcome.
