Otti said this during the Abia State 2024 Cancer Awareness Day organized by the wife of the governor in collaboration with the Ministry of Health in Umuahia.
The theme of the day is “The Changing Face of The Enemy: Reducing The Rising Prevalence of Cancer in Abia”.
She said that the programme had been designed to focus on raising awareness about breast, cervical, and other forms of cancer.
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Otti also said that the programme aimed to provide free screenings, counseling, and educational resources to empower people with the knowledge and tools needed to combat the disease.
She said that the event underscored the importance of routine checkups and sought to address stigmas associated with cancer diagnosis and treatment.
Otti said:”Recent data from the World Health Organization (WHO) suggest that over 100,000 new cases of cancer are diagnosed in Nigeria each year.
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“Early detection is the principal game changer that decides the difference between life and death.
“That is why we encourage women to be proactive and undergo cancer screening regularly.
“May I remind us on this auspicious Cancer Awareness event, that although awareness is key to cancer prevention, awareness alone is not enough.
“Maintaining a healthy lifestyle, managing stress, and avoiding known risk factors are also critical steps in preventing cancer”.
She said that the event symbolized a call to every individual, family and community to unite in the fight against cancer.
Otti said that it had become essential for everyone to work together to create a healthier, cancer-free future for our communities.
In an address, the Commissioner for Health, Prof. Enoch Uche, said that the programme had been designed to remind the citizens about the need to become active participants in the fight to eliminate cancer from the society.
Uche said that statistics showed that one in five people will develop cancer, one in eight women and one in nine men will die from cancer, while current estimates indicated that the rates of cancer would grow to over 80 per cent in 15 years.
“The time to act is now, let us stand up as champions of cancer care and advocacy,” he said.
In a lecture presentation, the President of the Medical Women Association of Nigeria(MWAN), Prof. Rosemary Ogu, described cervical cancer as the fourth commonest cancer in women caused by Human Papilloma Virus(HPV), “which is 100 per cent preventable”.
Ogu expressed dismay over the fact that cervical cancer remained one of the leading causes of mortality in women aged 15-44, because of the poor health-seeking behaviour of the citizenry.
“Prophylactic vaccination against HPV, screening and treatment of pre-cancer lesion are effective ways to prevent cervical cancer and are very cost effective.
“Our findings confirm that the vaccine prevents the development of invasive cervical cancer and then even one or two doses per month will go a long way,” she said.
Ogu also described the inclusion of HPV vaccine in the National Immunization Programme targeting prepubertal females as the most effective strategy for prevention of cervical cancer and the mortality arising from the disease.
She urged the state government to ensure that routine HPV vaccination would be entrenched in the state’s Immunization Programme by 2025 and advocated for regular cervical examination and routine vaccinations.
Also, a resource person, Dr. Oluchi Izuka, described cancer as a global crisis on a steady increase across the society.
Izuka said that the breast and cervical cancers were the top leading cancers for women, while prostrate and colon cancers were the top leading ones in men.
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She called for adoption of preventive strategies such as lifestyle changes, vaccination, regular screenings, minimize environmental risks, among others.
Earlier, the State Director of Public Health, Dr. Princess Agomoh, said that the event could be best described as a call to the people of Abia to join in the campaign against cancer.
Agomoh urged the people of Abia to build a culture of regular screenings and proper treatment because “early detection saves lives”.
The event featured a health walk, free cancer screening, testimonial from a cervical cancer survivor, and presentation of N10 million to indigent cancer patients by Mrs Otti.
