Group laments poor support for cancer victims, targets N1b to tackle scourge

A cancer advocacy group, Dance Against Cancer has lamented the inadequate support for families that have lost their loved ones to the scourge.

Founder of the group, Terngu Uduezue, who stated this in Abuja at an event to dance against cancer, disclosed that the group was targeting over N1b to assist families that have been affected by the menace.

Uduezue said it became imperative to bring awareness to families, whose members suffer from cancer because after losing her mother to the scourge, she discovered that there was no awareness in dealing with cancer as it affected the family.

“There is really no support for the family and I Know how hard it is mentally, emotionally, physically, financially going through dealing with cancer, it can drain your account and we have decided to stand in the gap for the victims.

Noting that the government might not be able to handle the responsibility of cancer victims alone, she stressed the need to support groups that already have a database of families instead of creating another facility that could not be sustained.

Minister of Women Affairs, Pauline Tallen in her key note address lamented that cancer has continued to be of great concern to all, noting that it was due to its destructive tendencies in family life and huge amount of money required for diagnosis and treatment.

Meanwhile, the Chief Medical Director of La’ Newton Oncology Clinic in Edo State, Dr. Oludare Adeyemi, at the weekend said he has successfully performed microseed treatment for breast cancer patients in the state.

Adeyemi, who spoke in Benin City, said the use of microseeds, which does not require a mastectomy, remained the best treatment for breast cancer patients.

He advised women to go for regular screening for breast cancer in order to detect the disease early, adding that the procedure for microseeds treatment involved using radioactive seeds.

A consultant radiation oncologist and lecturer in the Department of Radiotherapy at the University of Benin, Adeyemi said the use of microseeds treatment in Nigeria was the first in Africa.