N5bn Kano cancer centre ready for commissioning

The multiple billion naira Kano Cancer Centre of Excellence would be completed and ready for comprehensive operation by July, 2021, the state government has said.

The N5bn critical project sited at Muhammad Buhari Specialists Hospital in Giginyu quarters, is structurally designed to accommodate world class facilities for both radiotherapy and chemotherapy cancer treatment.

Before the review of the structural design, the project was awarded for N2.3bn. The new adjustment include an additional storey building and more facilities.

When completed, the first state government-owned cancer centre in the country, will reduce medical tourism and high cost of treatment of cancer abroad.

Conducting journalists round the facility under construction, the state Commissioner for Health, Dr. Aminu Ibrahim Tsanyawa, said the centre, which is designed to world class standard, will upon completion, cater for treatment of about 100 patients on a daily basis compare to the conventional centres that hardly take more than 20 patients daily.

Represented by the Executive Secretary, Kano State Health Trust Fund, (KHETFUND), Dr. Nura Idris, the commissioner stated that Governor Abdullah Umar Ganduje has approved the procurement of a one stop shop cutting edge high tech machines, equated to any modern cancer treatment equipments globally.

He said: “The state government decided to chose modern equipments, simply because the machines we have in the country are conventional ones that treat like 10 to 15 patients per day and that is why we have backlog of patients with difference form of cancers awaiting treatment.

“So when the centre is completed with the three types of modern equipments we have to treat all forms of cancer, then we are going to treat 60 to 100 patients in a day against the conventional ones that treats 10 to 15 per day.

” The equipments include the Halcyon radiotherapy machine with single energy, True beam radiotherapy machine with dual energy carrier and Brachy radiotherapy machine also with single energy.

“The state has robust plan for manpower or human resources to man the centre, as we have identified some young people to be trained in many institutions of the country in various disciplines to enable them run affairs of the centre effectively.”

The project manager, Team Nigeria Limited, Mr. Mario Stella told journalists that the ongoing project had reach 80 per cent completion from the initial design and presently stood at 40 per cent completion after review.

He further stated that the project, which was awarded in August 2019, was delayed by COVID-19 pandemic.

He, however, assured the timeline scheduled for completion would not exceed the middle of next year.

Mario said: “The project was awarded in July 2019 and was billed to be completed within one year before it was reviewed. Going by the initial plan, work is at 80 per cent completion, but with the additional one floor, work is at 45 to 50 per cent completion. Work is to be completed by next year, July.”