Wife of the Governor of Ondo State, Chief (Mrs) Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu , has appealed to oncologists and other experts involved in cancer treatment to join in the advocacy for improved funding in awareness creation and screening as a pathway to reducing the use of chemotherapy in breast cancer treatment.
Mrs Akeredolu who is the founder of Breast
Cancer Association of Nigeria (BRECAN) made the appeal on Wednesday at the 2021 Cancer International Week in Nigeria, holding at the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) Conference Centre & Suites, Ahmadu Bello Way, Abuja, FCT.
While reacting to the presentation and peer review of chemotherapy safety policy document produced by the Federal Ministry of Health as a laudable initiative, the First Lady said she was concerned about the cancer patients who take in the toxic substances for cancer treatment.
In her words, “As a breast cancer survivor, I am concerned about those taking these toxic substances. We know that breast cancer progresses in stages, that is stages 1-4, and it is an evidence-based fact that there is a stage of breast cancer for which we don’t need chemotherapy. We can also look at this possibility as a way out so that we make less use of these chemotherapeutic drugs.
“As you promote chemotherapy safety, we should also intensify effort in awareness creation and invest in screening to promote early detection and presentation. That is another opening, and if we can explore it, a lot more women will present early, and then there is a likelihood that we can identify the group that will not need chemotherapy. They may just do the radiation therapy and other adjuvant treatments that are less toxic.”
The governor’s wife said she was a 24-year breast cancer survivor and a poster child of a breast cancer survivor who did not take chemotherapy, saying, “Much as I am not against chemotherapy, the fact still remains that there is a category of breast cancer patients that might not need chemotherapy.” She advised medics and policy makers to work on correcting the misinformation and bad publicity around chemotherapy.
“There is a campaign against the use of chemotherapy. Sometimes last year or thereabouts, there was a video that went viral about chemotherapy. The lady in the video accused oncologists and those taking care of cancer patients in the hospitals that there were killing cancer patients in Nigeria by giving them chemotherapeutic drugs.
“I felt helpless, I didn’t have the right answer to give. If I ask them not to take chemotherapy, what alternative do I have to offer? The oncologists and our policy makers should work on correcting the misinformation and the talks against chemotherapy.” The First Lady said.
Presenting the policy document on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Health, Pharmacist James Yakubu explained that the document was designed to take care of the various risk factors involved in the administration of chemotherapy, including the medics, patients and environment.
Earlier, Mrs Akeredolu presented branded T-shirts to breast cancer survivors, otherwise called ‘the Champions’. She has produced the shirts with the inscription ‘Meet Up with Cancer Survivor. #2021FacesofHope’ to raise awareness on the fact that breast cancer survivors are also thriving.
The second day also featured medical research presentations on cancer related studies and awards for outstanding research abstracts.
The cancer week which commenced on Tuesday 26th will be concluded on Friday 29th October, 2021.
The president of Nigerian Cancer Society (NSC), Dr Adamu Al-hassan Umar, NGOs academics, medical researchers, partners and media were present at the programme.