Wives of five Governors in Nigeria who are medical doctors have teamed up to fight the ravaging effect of cancer in the country.
Under the aegis of Wives of Governors Against Cancer in Nigeria, the First Lady of Cross River State, Dr Mrs Linda Ayade, led the women on a tour of Asi Ukpo Diagnostic Medical Centre established for cancer treatment which is located in Calabar, the capital of Cross River State.
The women undertook a tour of the centre to get firsthand knowledge of the available facilities to combat the cancer scourge since it serves as a referral centre for women with cancer cases.
The fight was initiated under the auspices of Dr. Linda Ayade, wife of the governor of Cross River State, Dr. Amina Abubakar Bello, wife of Niger State governor, Mrs. Funsho Amosun, Ogun State governor’s wife, Dr. Florence Ajimobi, Oyo State First Lady and Mrs. Omolewa Ahmed, Kwara State governor’s wife.
A former military administrator of Rivers State and managing director of the centre, Brigadier General Anthony Ukpo (retd) who conducted the women around the facility, said the centre commenced operations in 2013 with a state-of-the-art equipment to conduct a wide range of medical investigations, including MRI, CT scan, endoscopology analysis, digital mammography, 4D colour Doppler and ECG Cardiac stress test.
The former military administrator further stated that the World Health Organization, WHO reported that over 250,000 new cases arise each year and over 10,000 persons die of cancer annually, placing Nigeria as the country with the highest cancer rate in Africa. Okpo added, that a situation like this should not be allowed to continue.
“WHO also predicts that by 2030, close to one million people will die of cancer each year in Sub-Saharan Africa and for every four people who die of HIV/AIDS, there would three who die of cancer.”
The First Lady of Cross River State, who spoke on behalf of the visiting First Ladies, said: ‘We are medical doctors and from what we have seen, we are highly impressed with what the centre is offering, particularly going beyond diagnosis to treatment and management with a wide range of current medical equipment, which is a novelty and a holistic way of addressing the many cancer cases affecting people in Nigeria and of course the entire continent.”
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