Being a cancer patient in Nigeria worse than hell

• Victims, deceased patients’ families share agonising stories

By Abubakar Yakubu

February 1 of every year is known as the ‘World Cancer Day.’ But this year, some relatives of patients that passed on due to the disease as well as those suffering from the illness decided to air their views on what they passed through while seeking medical remedies.

 

Dr Ihejieto

Hajiya Hadiza Usman, a 66-year-old housewife, noticed something unusual inside her body one year ago and immediately went to the Healthcare Primary Centre (PHC) at Kuta town in Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State.

It was at the centre that the dreadful news of her contacting cervical cancer was disclosed to her. She was thereafter referred to the General Hospital at Minna, where the doctors over there asked her to choose between the National Hospital Abuja and the Abuja University Teaching Hospital for further referral.

 

Women undergoing cancer test during the World Cancer Day at the National Mosque in Abuja

Hajiya Habiba Ahmed, a younger sister to Hadiza, said her sister chose the National Hospital, where her treatment began.

According to her, the treatment reached the stage where her sister needed to undergo radiotherapy, but it was discovered that the machine to be used had broken down at the National Hospital.

“I am a medical officer and I was surprised to

learn that in the whole of the north, it was only Sokoto at that time with a functional radiotherapy machine.

“Maiduguri also had such a machine but the town was taken over by flood, while the one in Zaria wasn’t functioning. Also we learnt further that across the country, only Lagos, Enugu and Sokoto had functional machines which made us choose Sokoto,” she stated.

She said due to the long distance and treatment cost, she had to seek help from family members and individuals but discovered that it was only those who knew them personally that rendered help.

“The world is full of crime and the present economic situation in the country which has brought about hardship is the reason why people are reluctant to assist,” she reasoned.

She said her sister and herself had to travel by air to Sokoto because of the fear of insecurity on the roads, adding that a friend gave them a place to stay throughout their stay.

“The cost of the radiotherapy was N800, 000 and after the session, my sister developed weakness and had to be transfused with four pints of blood.

“Her immune system went down and she became prone to diseases like septic and malaria but she gathered strength and we returned,” she narrated.

She lamented further that at the tail end of her sister’s treatment, she developed complications and died on January 18, 2025.

Hajiya Ahmed decried the risks people faced in travelling to far away states to access treatment.

“At Sokoto, we met a lot of cancer patients who, due to the high cost of transportation, didn’t have enough money for treatment and we heard stories of those who were attacked on their way and also those whose vehicles broke down while travelling. In fact there were some who couldn’t afford adequate meals,” she disclosed.

She advised the federal government to wake up and indulge in more research in order to find out why cancer is rampant in Nigeria and the best way to treat it.

“Is it the type of food we eat that has caused a lot of people to develop this illness? And this sickness is deadly and not easy to detect.

“The government should encourage research in this area and create massive awareness, while each state of the federation should make provision so that anyone diagnosed with cancer can access treatments in public hospitals.

“Teaching hospitals in the country should come up with better methods and drugs for treating cancer other than the radiotherapy method,” she posited.

She said apart from National Hospital Abuja and University of Ibadan College Hospital, no other hospital has the PET scanner, which is used to detect the cancer cells in the human body, adding that this will enable medical experts recommend appropriate treatments.

Amina Zakari, sister to another former cancer patient who died in August last year, advised government to engage in wide sensitisation exercises in rural and urban communities so that people can be aware of the root causes of cancer and how to detect it at an early stage.

“My sister died of an abnormal growth in her skin. I still remember the sufferings she underwent in trying to get treatment as well as the huge sums of money we spent trying to keep her alive,” she said.

Another patient, Chukwu Steve, who said he suffers from prostate cancer, wondered why Nigerian doctors cannot find a cure for it.

“I have being travelling to Egypt for treatment for the past four years and the illness has gotten to the stage where medically nothing can be done again and I just have to wait for God to call me,” he lamented.

He said whenever he feels terrible pains, he checks into a private hospital where the illness is managed.

Nkechi Chibuzor, another patient, lamented that the high cost spent on treating the disease has made her become a street beggar, adding that she solicits funds from markets and major roads from Jikwoyi to Nyanya in Abuja.

“I have an abnormal lump on my breast and the doctor says I have to undergo surgery to remove it, which means one of my breasts will be removed and I don’t even have the money to foot my bill,” she lamented.

Reacting to the narrated cases, an Abuja-based medical practitioner, Dr. Wisdom Ihejieto, informed that government hospitals, especially tertiary centres, such as the Federal Medical Centre, National Hospital and others across the country are supposed to be centres of excellence, especially in healthcare delivery services with expert medical officers and the latest medical infrastructure, and with advanced diagnostic machines that could be befitting in such centres. He regretted, however, that this is not the case.

“Hajiya Hadiza, the patient talked about, probably needed diagnostic and curative care for cancer but might not have gotten that due to the absence of machines like the radiotherapy, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Computarised Tomography (CT) Scan.

“Due to the absence or non- functioning of such machines, the patient couldn’t get the required medical care she deserved at that time, and thus leading to delays in diagnosis and timely treatment which could ultimately lead to worsen conditions and even death,” he disclosed.

He advised on the urgent need for tertiary institutions like the National Hospital and other teaching hospitals to have such high-tech machines with expert manpower in order to achieve the core mandate of delivering healthcare to the populace.

“Apart from the availability of these machines, there should also be good maintenance culture of the machines so that frequent breakdown will be avoided.

“It is really, really sad where citadel of healthcare delivery like the National Hospital, which should serve as a flagship of our healthcare delivery eco system in a huge country like Nigeria, does not have these basic machines for delivering healthcare to the people.

“It is possible to have up to two radiotherapy, MRI and CT scan machines in all the tertiary health institutions in every state of the country, including the Federal Capital Territory, with their maintenance officers,” he said.

He acknowledged that government was making efforts towards that but noted that not enough was being done presently.

“Since healthcare is a priority because health is wealth, there is urgent need to consider it topmost in the budget. And not just putting it in the budget but also releasing significant funds for procurement of these medical equipment.      

“There is also need to equip even the primary healthcare centres with basic diagnostic tools and manpower that could pick up the presence of cancer at the early stages.

“The same is applicable to the general /district hospitals, which form part of the secondary level of care as diagnosis as well as treatment of cancers can be done at this level if the necessary diagnostic and treatment tools with expertise manpower are available,”he advised.

He said if only the federal government can budget about N21 billion to purchase such equipment in their health institutions, it will go a long way in improving on the healthcare system.

“In my opinion, it should be made mandatory that a significant amount of funding in the health budget should be made available merely for the procurement of advanced diagnostic tools like the chemotherapy machines, radiotherapy machines, MRI,   CT scans, CAT scans and other relevant machines.

“Presently there are not up to six health centres in the country that have the Cathertezation (CAT) Scan, which is a major diagnostic tool for arresting cardiac arrest and other major heart legions,” he disclosed.

He sympathised with the late Hadiza’s family and imagined how disappointed she was to be referred out of a tertiary healthcare centre in Abuja to a distant centre in Sokoto with significant logistic costs, adding that such an action led to delays and finally death.

“That shouldn’t be happening in 2025 or in this century to a country of such significance like Nigeria,” he stressed.

At the Maryam Sani Abacha Radiotherapy centre of the National Hospital in Abuja, a nurse who pleaded anonymity on Monday said the radiotherapy machine in the place was now working. She also disclosed that the MRI was also working. Indeed, this reporter observed a lot of patients waiting to undergo the therapy.

“Make sure that the cancer patient you have is referred to our clinic and also ensure you take him to the place on Thursday as that is the only day he will be able to see a doctor,” she advised.

It would be recalled that on August 2, 2019, the National Hospital received a new radiotherapy machine, donated by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo), which made the hospital to have two radiotherapy machines for the treatment of cancer patients. The first was delivered in 2000.