The need for economic managers to invest in sensitisation to reduce cancer and increase the survival rate of children living with the disease has come to the front burner.
The Dorcas Cancer Foundation (TDCF) and Lagos Doyen Lions Club put the survival rate of children living with cancer in the country at 30 per cent, while in developed climes, it is about 80 to 90 per cent.
Speaking on the sidelines of a courtesy visit and donation of medical kits to children living with cancer at the Paediatric Oncology Ward, Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), yesterday, the Founder of TDCF, Dr Joseph Adedayo, said the event was joining the rest of the world to celebrate childhood cancer day, noting that it was not a day of celebration, but of reflection.
She called on Federal Government and key stakeholders in the nation’s health sector to think outside of the box to help children with cancer in Nigeria and Africa at large.
“It is important for us to settle down and find a way to solve that problem. We have been talking for a long time; it is time for action. The action has to be reliable and feasible,” she urged.
Also, Second Vice Governor, District 404 A3, Mary Onu, said the district was using the visit to reaffirm its commitment to love and affection for children living with cancer.
She said: “The budget for today’s event was N945,000. We were not able to hit the target exactly, but we did go a long way. It is a partnership between the Lagos Doyen Lions Club and Dorcas Foundation. We come here yearly to support.
“September is awareness for childhood cancer because most folks do not believe that cancer is prevalent in children. We are still ignorant and this hinders us from catching the signs early enough.”
President, Lagos Doyen Lions Club, OkeyEgbuchu, noted that the club is a service organisation, which objectives include eradicating childhood cancer, providing disaster relief items, combating hunger, blindness and youth empowerment.
The Chairman, Child Survival and Development Organisation of Nigeria, Onari Duke, said the organisation is set out to reduce maternal and child mortality rate in the country.
What is key, she added, is early diagnosis and the urgent need to take the awareness information to the communities, especially the rural communities, to reduce the prevalence of cancer in the country.
