The Federal Government on Friday expressed concern over the increasing cases of COVID – 19 infections in Nigeria, saying the pandemic had distorted all health sector plans and strategies already on course.

The government also raised the alarm that no fewer than 40 million women in Nigeria from the age of 15 and above, were at risk of developing cervical cancer.

While stressing the importance of heeding the global call to eradicate cervical cancer by the year 2030, the government said the Federal Ministry of Health would leave no stone unturned in ensuring Nigeria meets the target.

The FMoH, it said, had taken steps to commence national immunisation programme against Human Papilloma Virus, which was responsible for over 70 per cent of cervical cancer and increase screening campaigns hitherto conducted at the tertiary hospitals, through some individuals and non-governmental organizations and partners.

The Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, expressed these views in his key note address at the national stakeholders forum on the elimination of cervical cancer in Nigeria in Abuja

He however lamented that the programme on the prevention and control of cervical cancer was one of the very important programmes affected by emergence of Coronavirus.

The Minister said, “There is no gainsaying that the pandemic has distorted our plans as a nation particularly in the health sector. This is probably responsible for our inability to fully implement some of the strategic plans especially those that are time bound. One of such plans is the National Strategic Plan for the Prevention and Control of Cancer of the Cervix (2017-2021).

“Cancer of the cervix is the second commonest cancer in women globally and it is the leading cause of cancer mortality in Nigeria. With a total population of about 200 million people, Nigeria has about 40 million women aged 15 years and older who are at risk of developing cervical cancer.

“Available data indicates that the incidence of cervical cancer in Nigeria is about 33/100,000 and an estimated 14,089 are diagnosed every year, with eight out of every ten of them presenting at an advance stage resulting in a mortality rate of about 25 percent.

“The National Strategic Plan for Prevention of Cancer of the Cervix provides a strategic direction for a national response to nib the scourge of cervical cancer in Nigeria in the bud. It includes guidance on how to increase awareness on cancer of the cervix, screening and prevention, training of health care providers, vaccination against HPV, treatment of pre-cancerous lesions as well as monitoring and evaluation.

“It also defines roles and responsibilities of stakeholders and advocates integration of prevention of cancer of the cervix into reproductive health services at the primary health care level.”

He reiterated assurances of the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency to introduce on a national scale, HPV immunization against cervical cancer on a national scale in 2021 and the ongoing collaboration with the Clinton Health Access Intiative to scale up secondary prevention of cervical cancer in Lagos, Rivers and Kaduna, initially billed to have commenced in May this year.

 

NAN