Experts urge accelerated action to eliminate cervical cancer
Some health experts have called for accelerated action to eliminate cervical cancer in Nigeria as a public health challenge as well as achieving the 90–70–90 targets by 2030 and placing Nigeria on a path to eliminating cervical cancer within the next century.
They made the call during a stakeholders’ engagement in Gombe on Saturday tagged “2026 Gombe HPV Forum” organised by the Papillomavirus Society of Gombe Nigeria (PSGN) in partnership with the Arewa Cancer Control Coalition (ACCC), Call of Cancer Initiative (COCI), Gratefield, APIN public health initiative and the International Papillomavirus Society (IPVS) Nigeria.
Dr Mohammed Manga, President of International Papillomavirus Society (IPVS) Nigeria said that though the government has made efforts towards eliminating the cervical cancer, he stressed that a lot was still needed to achieve the global target in the country.
Manga, a Professor of Medical Microbiology said that the efforts of government in tackling the health challenge was commendable.
According to him, over 14 million girls within the past three years have been immunised, stating that such exercise remains unprecedented and is the largest on the African continent.
He stated that setting up of the national taskforce on cervical cancer elimination was a proof of the commitment of government towards tackling the threat posed by cervical cancer.
He added that the initiative to have a national cancer fund where certain cancers that have been diagnosed received some support for treatment and diagnosis was good and impactful.
While calling for more awareness to dismiss the misconceptions around the HPV vaccine, Manga said that the availability of some interventions were not as optimum as they should be.
Dr. Ishaq Lawal, a gynaecologist with the Federal Teaching Hospital Birnin Kebbi and the chairman, Board of Trustees and Cervical Cancer Nigeria Initiative said there were about 600,000 global cases of cervical cancer recorded annually and over 300,000 die annually.
Lawal said the fact that over 7, 000 persons die of cervical cancer in Nigeria annually, showed that there was a lot more that should be done to reduce the level of cervical cancer in the country.
Dr. Halimah Usman Farooq, an Associate Professor of Gynaecology, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, College of Medicine, Gombe State University called on stakeholders to accelerate national action toward ending cervical cancer, one of the most preventable yet deadly cancers affecting women across the continent.
Farooq said a stronger commitment was needed towards ensuring that no woman dies from a disease that can be prevented, detected early, and treated.
