• Plan acquisition of mobile cancer treatment centre

• Comprehensive specialised medical centre to gulp $30m

• Nigeria needs 37 or more centres

DISTHRAUGHTED by the soaring numbers of victims to one of the world’s deadliest infectious diseases, cancer, Nigerians, under the aegis of Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy (CECP) have began aggressive sensitization campaign against the scourge.  This was sequel to a report that says 10 Nigerians die of cancer every hour of the day.

Championing the course, about 150 names of prominent Nigerians, caught across all sectors, have been shortlisted at the special anti-cancer ambassadors who will be spreading the campaign across the nooks and crannies of the federation.

The team, which is constituted of the disease’s survivors, relatives of victims, specialists and volunteers, intended to put in place an effective medical structure to combat cancer across the country. Practically, this task would see them to raise N95million (exclusive of duties) to purchase one Cancer Mobile Treatment Center, which would be primarily dedicated to diagnosing and treating the disease in the grassroots.

This initiative, which was unveiled over the weekend in Lagos and in commemoration of World’s Cancer Survivors’ Day, intended to attract major and minor donors to raising funds that will be sufficient for the establishment of at least, a comprehensive specialized cancer center in each state of the country.  According to expert, the financial implication to establish a world-class comprehensive cancer treatment center is approximately put at $30million.

The move to buy a mobile cancer treatment center and subsequently establish a comprehensive specialized treatment center was a course informed by American and Indian’s success stories, whose survivors’ chances are more than 90 per cent.

America has over 2000 Mobile Cancer Treatment Centers and India has over 125 Comprehensive Cancer Treatment Centre.

Speaking at the secretariat of CECP, Dr. Abia Nzelu, said that every year, 100,000 Nigerians were diagnosed of this killer disease among which 80,000 of them would die, due largely to late discovery and lack of access to first class medical treatment.

According to her, ignorance, especially among the people at the grass-root and the absence of comprehensive specialized diagnostic and treatment centers and it mobile cancer versions in the country, were responsible for the massive but preventable deaths.