Port Harcourt Comprehensive Cancer Centre expected to bring succour

Posted by admin Rivers, State News Monday, February 6th, 2012

By AZOMA CHIKWE

Concerned about the deadly impact of cancer, which is the number one killer of
mankind, and the lack of facilities to save the lives of sufferers, especially
the underprivileged, some concerned Nigerians have undertaken to establish the
first comprehensive cancer prevention, treatment, research and training
institute in Nigeria, known as the Port Harcourt Cancer (Comprehensive Care)
Centre or PHCC.

Speaking at a recent meeting of about one hundred
stakeholders in Port Harcourt, Chief (Mrs) Seinye Lulu-Briggs and her husband,
High Chief Dr O. B. Lulu-Briggs, who are the chief promoters of the initiative
and also executive directors of the O. B. Lulu-Briggs Foundation, said it is
unfortunate that Nigeria has no single comprehensive cancer centre whilst a
country like India has over 120 such centres. She further stated that the Port
Harcourt Cancer Centre (PHCC) initiative provided an excellent opportunity for
all benevolent Nigerians to stand up and be counted in response the global
clarion call to fight the cancer menace.

The project is expected to cost
a total of N10 billion or about $63 million dollars. The project will be
launched on March 31, 2012 in Port Harcourt, while it plans to admit the first
set of cancer patients in February 2013.
The technical coordinator of the
PHCC project who is also the National Coordinator of the National Cancer
Prevention Programme (NCPP) of the mass medical mission (mmm), the Rev Canon Dr
Kin J-Egwuonwu, stated that the centre will be developed in five phases with
each phase gulping about N2 billion. He however said the five phases of the
centre could be established concurrently given the availability of
funds.

The coordinator noted that besides affecting 100,000 Nigerians out
of whom 80,000 die annually, the cancer scourge is also the world’s most
expensive illness, with a global economic toll of about $895 billion in 2008;
equivalent to 1.5 percent of global gross domestic product (GDP). “The Cancer
threat is real. Cancer is diagnosed in one out of every four persons alive.
Every year, Nigeria loses all cardres of manpower and all categories of
statesmen and leaders as a direct result of preventable cancer-related deaths.
However, the common masses who cannot afford to travel abroad for treatment are
the worse hit,” he said.
According to the Rev. Canon Dr. Kin J-Egwuonwu, the
NCPP, a non-profit programme, has already established
advocacy/screening/follow-up centres in Lagos and Abuja, and are about to
establish another one in Owerri, with plans to do the same in other state
capitals. However, this first comprehensive world-class centre is deliberately
being cited in Port Harcourt, out of consideration for the fact that the
south-south/south-east axis of Nigeria has virtually no facilities for
comprehensive cancer care.

J-Egwuonwu re-emphasized that the centre was
being cited in Port Harcourt because of the environmental challenges of the
region such as gas flaring, oil spillages, and industrial pollution which are
risk factors for cancer in the hydrocarbon-based economy of the Niger Delta.
These environmental challenges of the region make contact with cancer-causing
pollutants a fact of life in the Niger Delta.

The Port Harcourt Cancer
Centre is expected to bring succour, in the face of the high cost of treatment
overseas, with the attendant drain on Nigeria’s foreign reserves. Moreover,
those Nigerians who find themselves admitted in cancer hospitals abroad are not
only financially drained but also emotionally deprived of the needed
psychological support, affection and care while receiving treatment in places
far away from their homes, families and loved ones.
As part of activities
planned to build up momentum towards the launch of the centre, there will be a
series of advocacy-centred activities, on February 4, 2012 to mark the World
Cancer Day across the country.

Over 10,000 volunteer advocates from all
walks of life have already been registered, while about 5,000 individual and
corporate donor partners have been selected to provide financial backing for the
initiative. Several venues have been selected for pre-launch advocacy campaigns,
whilst the induction of the first batch of volunteers would hold at the main
auditorium of the Rivers State University of Technology, Port Harcourt on World
Cancer Day, February 4, 2012. There will also be a massive international
grassroots campaign on the internet, using the web-based social media.

To
facilitate the participation of the general Nigerian public in the campaign, the
Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) under Dr. Eugene Ikemefuna Juwah has
formally requested all the major telecommunication companies to create a special
common short code so that ordinary Nigerians can make their donations through
their mobile telephones. Already this short code (44777) has been adopted by
Glo, Airtel, and Starcomms, whilst MTN is working towards implementing the short
code. To further facilitate public participation, Interswitch has created a
platform for Electronic Transfer of funds through the NCPP’s Interswitch code no
777526.

-Sunwp_posts