Saraki stated this at the Bricon Foundation fundraising campaign tagged ‘E Fit B u’ to raise N50 million for cancer patients treatment.
Personalities at the event include Bricon Foundation Co-founders Dr Niyi Adekeye and Mrs Abigail Simon-Hart, Trustee, Mrs Sonja Ally and Special Guest, President of the Nigerian Cancer Society, Dr Adamu Umar.
In her keynote at the launch, Toyin Saraki, who is the Inaugural Emeritus Global Ambassador to the International Confederation of Midwives, said, “cancer remains the leading cause of death worldwide, accounting for nearly one in six deaths, and with a new case of cancer being diagnosed every 2 seconds, changing lives completely.
“In 2018, myself and my Wellbeing Foundation Africa, commissioned the Report of the Rapid Assessment of Cancer Care in Nigeria by The Wellbeing Foundation Africa (WBFA) on behalf of Amref Health Africa. As the statistics prove, cancer is a personal story for all of us, with us all being affected.”
“Three key areas of nursing and midwifery are likely to make a significant contribution to achieving SDG3 – Health and wellbeing in Nigeria. These areas are mental health, oncology, and maternal newborn health.”
She said with the 2030 target of the Sustainable Development Goals approaching fast, the targets of SDG3 will only be achieved if frontline health workers, especially nurses, midwives and community health workers, are trained, deployed and retained at all levels to provide equitable specialist quality care.”
Saraki said the foundation initiated in 2018 in collaboration with regional partners, Amref Health Africa, is committed to increasing engagement with key stakeholders and experts in the focal fields to define recommendations that can be implemented to improve Nigeria’s nursing and midwifery education to contribute to Nigeria’s Cancer Control and Treatment Strategy.
“The battle of closing the cancer care gap requires a holistic approach, including increasing the awareness about the disease; educating on screening and early diagnosis; training and retraining of relevant health workers; and infrastructure upgrade in our facilities across the country. We may not cure cancer today, but we can contribute to the battle against it by doing what we can to support closing the care gap today.”
Saraki and her organisation are committed to the cause of upskilling the nursing and midwifery profession, to provide specialist care, and have pledged to mobilise resources towards a dedicated grant to support the Bricon Foundation’s Macmillan based services to do so.
All Bricon funds are aimed to support and advocate for the need to improve the quality of care available to cancer patients, including the purchase of much needed cancer drugs and medicaments, funding for treatment and diagnostic tests, counselling and emotional support, as well as, training and upskilling healthcare workers.
Co-founder of the foundation, Abigail Simon-Hart, said, “Toyin’s contribution to the Bricon Foundation’s target of Raising N50 million is an incredible beginning to our journey in realising our mission. Her energy and deep commitment to educating, advocating and fundraising for cancer care makes a critical difference on the global health stage. Her, and her Wellbeing Foundation Africa’s pledge will make sure cancer patients, survivors and their families are supported in all stages of this disease. We are very grateful.”
The Bricon Foundation remains committed to closing the cancer care gap and urges all Nigerians to recognise that cancer does not discriminate.
