Project Pink Blue, a non governmental organisation, says it will organise a music and comedy fund raising show to support people with cancer in the country.
Mr Runcie Chidebe, Executive Director of the organisation made this known in a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday in Abuja.
The Show tagged “Show Love” is meant to encourage and engage Nigerians to financially support indigent cancer patients.
According to Chidebe, awareness creation and provision of screening is not enough to tackle cancer, except adequate funds were available for its treatment.
“In Nigeria, cancer is increasingly recognized as a critical health problem in Nigeria, where more people are dying of preventable cancer death.
“According to the 2018 World Health Organization (WHO)/Globocan report, there are 115,950 new cases of cancer annually in Nigeria and 70,327 cancer deaths annually.
“It was reported that breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in Nigeria with 26,310 cases (22.7%), followed by cervical cancer with new cases of 14,943 (12.9%).
”Prostate cancer is the third leading cause of death with 13,078 (11.3%) new cases annually.
“Other leading cancers are colorectal cancer, liver cancer, non-hodgkin lymphoma, stomach, pancreas, ovary and leukaemia.
“Painfully, the rising cost of cancer treatment and poverty has been a major impediment for several cancer patients to afford cancer treatment in Nigeria.
“For instance, a woman needs about N2.1 million to N29.2 million to treat breast cancer and this amount depends on the level and type of cancer.
“We believe that early detection and early treatment saves lives because some people get diagnosed on time but lack of funds hampers their survival chances,” he said.
He added that the funds realised would also serve as a trust fund that can be made available to patients.
NAN reports that the event is scheduled to take place on Nov. 15 in Abuja and individuals, organisations and artists who had contributed to cancer control in Nigeria are expected at the occasion. (NAN)
