By Chimezie Godfrey
Dr. Zainab Bagudu, wife of Kebbi state governor, has stressed early detection as a panacea for winning the war against cancer.
Dr. Bagudu who stated this at an event hosted by Medicaid Cancer Foundation, in Abuja decried the fact that most cancer patients go for treatment when the disease has reached an advanced stage.
“Most cancer patients come for treatment when the disease has reached an advanced stage hence the need for concerted efforts by key stakeholders and policymakers to create awareness.”
She admonished that myths and superstitious practices in the search for cancer cure must be challenged with education.
She pointed out that the official loss rate in Nigeria currently is about 70 percent.
“We loose 70 percentage of our cancer patients. We also tend to loose more patients in rural areas because of lack of awareness.
“However, it is still more loss than survivors because most patients come when the disease is at a late stage and this is what we keep saying.
“That is why we target young people, schools because we wany yo be able to detect the disease early. Countries that have 20 percent cure rate are detecting it early because they are aware and they are secreening.
“Low and middle income countries, education is poor and illiteracy is high and there are superstition we need to fight. These are the things we as a foundation are striving hard to fight,” she said.
