Cancer: Lets help ourselves; text ACT to 44777 to save a life today

Even though Vice President Yemi Osinbajo had said it all at the Centurions’ Luncheon of Giving Tuesday (#GivingTuesdayng), the Nigerian version of the UN fund raising tag for cancer treatment organised by the Committee Encouraging Corporate philanthropy (CECP), more efforts should be made toward early detection of the ailment because doctors said that with prompt diagnosis, it could be cured.

Cancer is a broad term for a class of diseases characterised by abnormal cells that grow and invade healthy cells in the body.

Although there are many kinds of cancer, all cancers start because abnormal cells grow out of control.

Cancer starts when abnormal cells divide in an uncontrolled way. Some cancers may eventually spread into other tissues. There are more than 200 different types of cancers and most times do not have syptoms.

And so it was on March 1, 2016 when some individuals and corporate organisations pledged at the Centurions’ Luncheon to provide 13 Mobile Cancer Centres (MCC) for patients.

At the event, where the vice president was decorated as National Patron of Giving Nigeria, donors pledged 125,000 dollars and N55 million respectively in separate calls.

Former CEO of Zenith Bank, Jim Ovia, pledged to donate 10 MCC, Insurance guru Jimoh Ibrahim pledged to donate one MCC, while two other donors pledged one each.

Osinbajo lauded the initiative, which defined the humanness of Nigerians, given their firm belief in community and communality of human existence as the core of every human virtue to contribute to the well-being of others.

He said “the Centurions are a hundred of Nigeria’s notable philanthropists who have together decided to lead the way in massive giving to important social issues.

“The Centurions’ luncheon is an annual event to be held each year on the first Tuesday in March, as an exclusive event which also kicks off the giving Tuesday celebrations for each year.

“The aim of the luncheon is to inspire a united action by the centurions through concerted philanthropy.

“The focal course of CCEP is a big war against cancer in Nigeria, aimed at taking holistic healthcare to the grassroots by the provision of at least one MCC in each state of the federation and one Comprehensive Cancer Centre (CCC) for each geo political zone.

“The first phase of the big war against cancer involves raising funds to acquire and deploy 37 mobile cancer centres, one for each state and Abuja.’’

Osinbajo recalled the statistics on cancer released by the World Health Organisation which presented the scenario in Nigeria in a negative form.

He said “the threat of cancer is real.

“According to WHO, one out of every three persons will be diagnosed with cancer in a life time.

“However, survival rate has improved tremendously in many countries with better infrastructure for early diagnosis and prompt intervention.

“Sadly, however, the WHO data shows that within the period of four years Nigeria has had a significant increase of deaths from the common cancers.

“In 2008, breast cancer killed 30 Nigerian women daily; by 2012 this has risen to 40 women daily. In 2008, prostate cancer killed 14 Nigerian men daily, by 2012 this had risen to 26 men daily.

“In 2008, liver cancer killed 24 Nigerians daily and by 2012 this had risen to 32 daily.

“A total of over 100,000 Nigerians are diagnosed with cancer annually and about 80,000 die, 10 deaths every hour.

“This death ratio of four to five compares unfavourably with other countries and it is as a result of poor facilities.’’

According to the Vice President, there is hardly any family in Nigeria that has not been affected one way or the other by cancer but the good news though is that most cancer deaths are preventable.

He said that the National Cancer Prevention Programme (NCCP), a non-governmental initiative, had been at work since 2007 and no fewer than 100,000 Nigerians had been directly screened or treated so far.

“And through the awareness created, the NCCP is helping to protect millions of Nigerians of cancer.

“This monumental effort has contributed immensely to the reduction of cervical cancer deaths in Nigeria from 26 daily in 2008 to 22 daily in 2012.

“The MCC will facilitate the process of scaling up this effort,’’ he said.

Osinbajo, however, explained that “an MCC is not the same as a mobile mammogram; rather it is a clinic on wheels with state-of-the-art facilities for screening, follow up and treatment, including surgeries for curing cancer and early cancer cases.

“It also contains facilities for screening against 10 cancer-related killer diseases, including hepatitis, diabetes, HIV and AIDS and others.

“Thus, the MCC will tackle the double burden of disease, highly communicable and non-communicable diseases.

“The MCC is not only a tool for the prevention and early treatment of cancer, it is also means of preventing 10 major cancer-related killer diseases.’’

The vice president hailed the CECP members and urged every worthy Nigerian to support the noble cause.

The Executive Secretary of CECP, Dr Abia Nzelu, noted that a lot of prominent Nigerians had gone for cancer treatment abroad and did not survive due to late
diagnosis, adding that something should be done urgently to address cases involving poor Nigerians.

According to her, a UN Environmental programme in 2011 found out that Ogoniland was contaminated with Benzene, a major cause of Leukemia.

She, however, hailed the courage of the Muhammadu Buhari administration to ensure that Ogoniland was cleaned up.

Former Nigerian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Dr Christopher Kolade, who anchored the event, described cancer as a sickness that was sweeping across the nation without adequate remedy and urged Nigerians to donate to its treatment.

CCEP is promoted by six of the core bodies of the organised private sector: The Institute of Directors; Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industries (LCCI); and the Nigeria Employers’ Cooperative Association (NECA).

Others are the Nigeria Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA); Nigeria Institute of Management (NIM); and The Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE).

Earlier on Dec. 8, 2015, a fund raiser was also launched in Lagos in order to gather money to establish MCCs nationwide.

During the launch, testimonies were made, full of emotions as husbands, wives and cancer relations narrate the trauma their loved ones went through, with most of them now late.

It was the night when the chief movers association which called for the establishment of 37 mobile cancer centres in the country with one each in every state and one in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT, heard the stories of how it all started.

The Chairman of that occasion, Chief Christopher Kolade, former Chairman of Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), urged Nigerians to use their mobile phones to donate toward the noble cause.

Kolade, who said it would cost N120 million to establish a mobile cancer centre, stressed that “this is a war we all must fight.

“We must help ourselves because you never can tell which cells will be strucked; Cancer can attack any part of the body anytime.

“I am giving you reasons to help because if it does not happen to you, it can be your son, husband, wife or friend. Doctors have emphasised the need for early detection; they said that if diagnosed in good time, it can be cured completely.’’

He then recalled how he got treated of hepatitis in 1962 with the help of a friend who happened to be a medical doctor.

He said that the doctor friend visited him and noticed his countenances and ordered that he should be examined in hospital and was diagnosed to have hepatitis which was adequately treated.

He said that he had to be hospitalised for three weeks and spent another three weeks indoors in order to get adequate treatment, stressing, however, that it might not be same if it was cancer.

Kolade said he was able to get treatment because he had a friend who happened to be a doctor and asked “what could have happened if I don’t have a doctor as friend?.’’

He then stressed the need for proximity with healthcare facilities, saying that people needed to have such facilities nearer to them in order to access them “and with mobile cancer centres in each state of the federation, people do not have to travel long distances to be screened.

“And with cancer, the journey starts with screening; and once it is detected early, one is sure to get cured.’’

Consequently, philanthropists and other well-meaning Nigerians made their pledges and donations toward the cause, including the Folawiyo Group of Companies, Dangote Group, Halogen PLC, Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, the Managing Director, Access Bank Group, among others.

With all said, donated and pledged however, the emphasis was for Nigerians to be their brothers’ keepers by donating at least N100 toward having MCCs in each state.

And the only simple way to do that was by sending ACT to 44777 on any network service provider, be it MTN, Glo or Airtel, just text the acronym ACT.

ACT means Attack Cancer Today, Attack Cancer Together, Attack Cancer Totally. (NAN)