A GORY picture of the state of breast cancer treatment and care in the country was again brought to the fore at the weekend, with experts worried that nothing significant has been done to nib rising incidences of breast cancer in the bud.Experts under the aegis of Sebeccly Cancer Care and Support Centre said that until there is an improvement in access to care across the country, awareness on healthy life-style and pro-active measures by corporate organisation and the government, there might be no control in the upsurge of new cases of breast cancer.Programme Coordinator of the group, Dr. Omolola Salako said in Lagos at the 11th Patience-E support and advocacy meeting that the incidence of breast cancer patients is indeed on the rise, which is not unconnected with inadequate care facilities and poor awareness.She explained that no fewer than 100 patients, both new and old cases present at a cancer care centre like Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), on a normal clinic day.'Obviously, the incidence of cancer is rising and the cases treated last year are more than what we saw last year. It could have doubled or tripled but definitely, it is not the same amount. It is not only at LUTH, but also in other centres,' she said.Salako noted that though there are about six public cancer care centres in Nigeria, but only the Zaria and LUTH centres are currently functional.'Cancer care facilities are available but they are not enough for the population of cancer patients in need of treatment. Government promised increasing centre facilities, train more people but these things need to be pushed. A lot of time has passed by but they are yet to be done.'Noting that access to care remains a major challenge that patients across the country are facing, the implication is that patients in states where the facility is either not available or non-functional are made to travel long distance, adding to the long queue already at the state where the facility is functional.She added that the unaffordable cost of care has also not help matters, even where cases are detected early and advancement into cancer could have been averted.'Though cost at different centres ranges, radiotherapy in LUTH is N100, 000, while surgery costs about N200, 000. Chemotherapy is also very expensive. Some of our patients present early, but by the time they go round looking for money, they come back at an advanced stage where we have to change the treatment,' she said.Communication officer of the group, Oluwatosin Oyekanmi said further that while the government has a leading role to play, the corporate organisations also have to support the government in driving the cancer care and awareness.'For instance, we do not have friendly screening centres. We need more access to preventive services, access to treatment facilities and these are areas where the corporate organisations can come in.'At Sebeccly, we have been able to assist about 60 patients, under different schemes. We also set up a breast help line in October where we received about 150 calls, with some actually breast cancer patients. We need to create more awareness on where women can go and sort out there breast lump problems. Breast lumps are very common among ladies, though does not mean that it is cancer.'What we advise is that they should always present to the doctor to detect what it is actually. The essence of treatment is basically to prevent cancer from spreading because there no treatment yet to prevent cancer.'A woman can live beyond breast cancer if she has the right treatment and care. If she is emotionally stable and support services which we are trying to do at Sebeccly,' she said.
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