February 11, 2018

Prof. Nwadiuto Akani, a Consultant Paediatrician, has urged the Federal Government to include cancer treatment in health insurance coverage and also prioritise investment in equipment for the treatment of the disease.

Akani, a Professor of Paediatrics and Child Health at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital, made the call in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.

The don also underscored the need for the government to constitute a committee on cancer in children just as the Non-Communicable Diseases Committee which focuses on adults.

She said that such a committee would help curb cancer menace in children and assist in reducing the financial burden on parents.

“Treating childhood cancer costs a lot of money and majority of the people affected come from low socio-economic group and cannot afford to buy the drugs as one injection costs as much as N7,000.

“Secondly, patients may need a lot of blood transfusion which is very expensive.

“Besides, we lack equipment to harvest the requisite components to sustain their lives and this is worrisome.’’

According to Akani, the incidence of cancer in children in the country,is alarming and she blamed the development on environmental pollution, among other factors.

She noted that dangerous activities such as bomb blast, oil pollution, pipeline vandalism among others, release toxic waste which is deadly to human health into the environment.

The don identified cancer as one of the major causes of mortality in the country and expressed concern that the government was not paying attention to childhood cancer.

According to her, some children are more susceptible to cancer than others when exposed to harmful toxic substances due to baseline malnutrition such as micro- nutrient deficiency.

She added that genetic factors also predispose children to cancer.

“Many years ago when cancer is diagnosed in children, people marvel.

“But we are worried that even as the government is becoming more aware that Nigerians are dying of cancer, including children, it seems to be focusing on adults; nobody is focusing on children.

“The thing about childhood cancer is that it has no specific area; any organ can become cancerous; and when these children are suffering, it becomes a major problem.’’

She said that cancer in children was worse than that of adults as all organs of their body could be affected.

In the case of adults, she said the disease attacks specific areas such as breast, cervix, prostrate, and colon, among others.