‘Nigeria diagnoses over 250,000 cancer cases yearly’

*NIMR opens new research centre in Lagos

THE pioneering Chairperson of National Action Committee on AIDS (NACA) now National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA), Prof. Ibironke Akinsete, yesterday blamed the perennial lack of training facility and quality researches for the high burden of cancer cases, put at over 250,000 yearly in Nigeria.

Akinsete, who spoke at the official launch of a new Biomedical Training and Cancer Research Centre in Lagos Tuesday, said the available training facilities had been overwhelmed as the burden grew over the years.

She observed that while the rest of the world had continue to maximize the potentials of cancer research and training, to reduce the deadly disease to chronic level, Nigeria continued to lag behind in equipment and local researches that could have turned the tide against cancer sicknesses and deaths.

According to her, “You must remember that cancer is a deadly disease and we don’t have the facilities. In developed countries they have facilities for research to know the epidemiology, causes, treatment and prevention of cancer. We are very much in its infancy here,” Akinsete said.

The Professor of Haematology, said it was therefore a delight to see the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR) paving the way forward for medical cancer research in Nigeria, with the Biomedical Training and Cancer Research Centre, located in Yaba.

Continuing, she said: “If you look at the whole of Nigeria, many lives could have been saved if we had done researches into prevention, into diagnosis, treatment and so on. This is what this centre has to offer and hope that this will be the beginning, not only in Lagos, but the whole of Nigeria, so that we will be able to look into cancer patients as much as possible.”

She explained that cancer research is a basic research into cancer, to identify causes and develop strategies for prevention, diagnosis, treatment and cure.

Akinsete added that there were many simple, yet defining researches to be done, as she appealed to researchers from different institutions to come into the new facility to carry out their researches, using its available state-of-the-art equipments.

The multi-million naira facility, being a Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement between NIMR and the German technology company, Sysmec-Partec, currently has Cancer Research Laboratory and Office; a biomedical laboratory that houses XN-Series Haematology Analysers, conference rooms among others. It was built without a government support.

NIMR Director General, Prof. Innocent Ujah, said that the facility was a demonstration of the importance of genuine partnership and it role in upturning the fortunes of medical research in the country.

Ujah said that the partnership with Sysmec-Partec was one of the several collaborations NIMR had had with leading international institutions and organizations to support human and infrastructural development in the Nigeria’s foremost research centre.

He added that the centre would enhance training capacity and mentorship, to upscale research capacity for quality health care of Nigerians.

Vice President Commercial Affairs, Sysmex Europe, Torsten Reinecke, said that his company found a perfect partner in NIMR, which warrant the siting of their first PPP investment in the whole of Africa and Middle East in Nigeria.

Reinecke said besides their sharing the same mission and vision with NIMR, they also share core values and the approach towards the needs of patients in Nigeria, Africa and anywhere else in the world.

He said: “We have understood that the solutions for the best health care in Africa must be developed and come from Africa and for this, we regard Nigeria as one of the leading countries not only in West Africa, but for the whole continent,” Reinecke said.

President of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Dr. Kayode Obembe, in his goodwill message, congratulated NIMR for putting together a facility that is different from the norm.

Obembe said the new facility was built to function and already carrying out activities, “unlike others that would only exist in structure without any equipment for anyone to use.”

“They have here shown to us that partnership is the way to go considering the health status of Nigerians. We cannot continue to depend on government. NIMR has carved a niche for the medical profession and we are very grateful,” Obembe said.