By ZUBAIRU IDRIS

The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Pate, has revealed that Nigeria records approximately 127,000 cancer cases annually, resulting in about 80,000 deaths.

Pate said this on Thursday during the commissioning of a newly constructed Oncology Centre at the Federal Teaching Hospital (FTH), Katsina.

“Nigeria accounts for 127,000 cancer cases annually, with about 80,000 deaths. That is the burden,” he stated.

The minister described non-communicable diseases such as cancer as one of the fastest-growing contributors to the country’s disease burden.

He noted that beyond the suffering, the illnesses imposed significant financial pressure on households.

Pate reaffirmed the Federal Government’s commitment to improving healthcare as part of President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

He said that cancer treatment centres would be established in all six geopolitical zones to enable early detection and reduce mortality.

“If cancers are detected late, even when treatment is available, it may be too late to benefit from it,” he said.

He added that the 2026 budget would include dedicated funding across federal teaching hospitals to help reduce the burden of catastrophic health expenditures on families.

In his remarks, the Chief Medical Director of FTH Katsina, Dr Suleiman Bello-Muhammed, said the new centre featured a 20-bed chemotherapy suite, including private suites for VIP patients.

He said the centre was also equipped with 26 oncology nurses, seven therapy radiographers, eight medical physicists, and six oncology pharmacists.

He added that the pharmacy compounding room was fully equipped for the safe preparation of chemotherapeutic drugs and said the equipment supplied met global standards.

Bello-Muhammed also disclosed that the hospital had a trained nuclear physician who studied in South Africa.

However, he expressed concern about the possibility of losing the specialist to brain drain “japa” if the nuclear medicine component of the centre remained incomplete.

“Like Oliver Twist, the management of FTH Katsina is pleading for the minister’s intervention to complete the nuclear medicine aspect of this centre,” he appealed. (NAN)