Urological surgeon underscores importance of regular prostrate cancer screening

Professor Kingsley Ekwueme has asked Nigerian men not to wait to see symptoms of prostrate cancer before going for a screening. According to him, waiting till that stage constitutes bad news because matters are already out of hand.

Ekwueme, a United Kingdom-based consultant urological, laparoscopic and robotic surgeon, maintained that there is no preventive measure that is effective than screening.

He said this when Reddington Hospital, Victoria Island, Lagos marked the successful surgery on 50 patients diagnosed with prostate cancer within 12 months.

In a presentation, Ekwueme said that prostate cancer has become a public health burden globally with statistics showing high prevalence in Europe and North America. He said though data about prostrate cancer in Nigeria is very poor, but available information paints a gloomy picture.

He stated that the success rate of laparoscopic surgery is 100 per cent, adding that his partnership with Reddington Hospital will provide succour for men.

The Chief Operating Officer of Reddington Hospital, Mr. Matthew Emmanuel, said that the hospital has been in the fore front of revising medical tourism since its inception through excellence in healthcare and partnership with Nigerian health professionals in the Diaspora.

“We just don’t talk, we work the talk. We do the best and partner with the best. We are happy and willing to engage the best no matter the colour.

“Why travel when you can have the same level of care and treatment here where your family is fully around you.”

One of the patients, Mr. Ben Alozie, a veteran journalist, who had laparoscopic surgery 10 months ago, said that eight years before the surgery had been traumatic because he had had a near fatal road accident with broken legs, survived Covid-19 before he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. “But today, I am a happy man. I am free from cancer. No more urinary incontinence and my libido is back fully,” he said. He, however, urged men not to be negligent, but go for regular test to check their prostate health.