Foundation charges government on special support for cancer patients

Founders of Bricon Foundation, Dr. Niyi Adekeye and Abigail Simon-Hart, have enjoined governments and stakeholders in the health sector to pay more attention to the plight of cancer patients in the country, through providing supportive treatment centres and structures.

Speaking at a fund raising event by their foundation in Lagos, they noted that while screening and advocacy continue to bring cancer patients to the fore, the treatment centres and support structures still pose a lot of challenges for cancer patients.

Adekeye, who also called for more private sector involvement and partnership with government, said, “We can beat cancer by working together. People must know that cancer is not a death sentence, because if treated early, patients could get relief or outright cure.

Simon-Hart, who lost her mother to cancer and survived a breast cancer in 2014, after treatment in the UK, said though survival rate in Nigeria 20 per cent, the lowest in Africa, equipping cancer patients with knowledge about the disease, lifestyle and importantly, emotional and financial support, sufferers can beat the disease.