Why most women die of cancer, by Ambode, Akeredolu’s wife

• Expert seeks structured health insurance child treatment

Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode and wife of the Ondo State Governor, Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu, yesterday called for sustained advocacy for cancer, especially at the grassroots level.

They said this was critical to check the myth about cancer, as well as ensure that the disease does not continue to decimate the country’s human resources.

The duo spoke yesterday when members of the Breast Cancer Association of Nigeria (BRECAN), led by Anyanwu-Akeredolu paid a visit to Lagos House, Ikeja, stating that most women die of cancer due to ignorance, late detection and presentation for appropriate medical attention.

Ambode said it was important to have sustained advocacy at the grassroots, so that a lot of people, especially cancer patients, could be liberated from the disease, as many still see cancer as a spiritual issue rather than a medical case.

The governor noted that when people are better informed about cancer, the survival rate would be higher, as people would detect it early and go for care, which would make them become part of the productive sector and contribute meaningfully to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

He said it was based on this that the Lagos State Government chose to partner with BRECAN to propagate issues around cancer.

Speaking, Anyanwu-Akeredolu said renewed and sustained advocacy was needed because cancer as a disease has not been given the attention it deserves, which is why some see it as a spiritual attack.

She noted that women with cancer in Nigeria were more likely to die compared with their counterpart in other climes. “It is a medical issue and it is time our women began to pay attention to issues of early detection and presentation,” she stressed.

Meanwhile, a clinical Oncologist at ‎the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Dr. Adedayo Joseph, has called for a structured health insurance that would take care of the treatment of children with cancer.

She told journalists in Lagos that due to an unstructured health insurance system for the treatment of children cancer in Nigeria, it has become prevalent, while its treatment now ranged from N3 million to N4 million.