National Cancer Week Kicks-off Today

AS the National Cancer Week commences today, Nigerians have been urged to join in the effort to reverse the current cancer trend in the country.

The weeklong event would be rounded-off on June 14, while Tuesday, June 9, has been dedicated to advocacy and fund raising by media and communication practitioners.

According to a statement on the programme, one out of every three persons will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime, adding that 70 per cent of cancer deaths take place in poor countries, due to lack of infrastructure to deal with the problem.   “Over 100,000 new cases of cancer are diagnosed yearly in Nigeria, out of which 80,000 die.

This means that cancer kills 10 Nigerians every hour. Breast cancer now kills Nigerian women daily, while prostrate cancer kills 26 Nigerian men daily,” it said.

It stressed that most of the cancer deaths are preventable given early detection.   “Media and Integrated Marketing Communication/Advertising Practitioners across the nation are supporting the efforts of the Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy (CECP-Nigeria) to acquire Mobile Cancer Centres to enable them take cancer screening and treatment to the grassroots.”