The numbers of individuals suffering from cancer increases as time passes as it is estimated that there were 20 million new cancer cases in 2022, and by the time you might have finished reading this rather short post of mine, someone somewhere would have lost their lives thereby losing their battle against cancer since in the same 2022, 9.7 million cancer patients died.
When we look at infections, diseases and conditions, we always mention people who are susceptible or likely to have them but in the case of cancer, it doesn't matter the age, the sex, the race, the financial status, political divide, and geographical location. Everyone is not exempted from cancer including children.
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Although this bedeviled condition doesn't care about anyone, people who live in developed countries and have insurances to cover their medical issues are usually very lucky to have their treatment going and possible treated early but in a country like Nigeria where you have to pay for your medical bills from your pocket then there is a problem.
The reason it can be a problem is because it is almost impossible for people who barely have enough to feed themselves to find their way to the hospital for symptoms of cancer which can usually be very simple at the beginning. They just tend to ignore the symptoms because they would rather worry themselves over what they will eat at night to symptoms like weight loss, headache, and sudden lumps.
For those who are lucky to have a good job and are able to fall under one health insurance scheme or the other from HMO to NHIS, you will be so shocked to know that most health insurance scheme in the country do not cover cancer treatment. They are there for malaria, typhoid, and delivery of babies. I would have blamed the insurance companies but how many Nigerians can pay their insurance fee to be able to cover for cancer treatment because we know it is expensive and also cancer treatment is not accessible in some parts of the country.
When people who live in these area with no cancer treatment have to travel out of their states to other states where they can get treatment, they spend a lot out of pocket only to come pay for their hospital bills out of their pocket again. This is a very pocket damaging condition for a lot of people. Over two third of the country's population cannot afford treatment and to worsen the case, the medications aren't produced in Nigeria or anywhere in Africa so it has to be imported into the country. At least importing from the Americas or Europe is better because it is even more expensive to transport in from a fellow African nation.
When this medication comes to the country, every place it reaches there is a markup in price and by the time it gets to the patient, the price is so high that the treatment either leaves the family broke or in debt. It is very painful that people even go into debt just to be able to do simple CT and MRI scans to ascertain if the have cancer or not, and it becomes painful seeing this thing. Personally, I do not have the means to pay for cancer treatment even when I can afford to eat at least once in a day and sometime twice and there are a lot of people who cannot even afford a day's meal so how will they be able to afford cancer treatment.
I think a lot needs to be done at least including cancer care to the plans of health insurance is a good way to start so people can be able to get access to care when they start to see simple symptoms. You wonder why I am writing this? Let me tell you before I drop my pen.
I met a woman crying yesterday in a church and I was moved by her tears and wondered why she was in so much tears and off course for one to be in so much tears, she must have been in so much pain. I don't know her before but from her utterances in her prayers, it was clear that she was told months ago from a free cancer outreach that she possibly had cancer and needed to go to the hospital to confirm diagnosis and get treatment. She hasn't gone because she didn't have the money to go and now she is already in severe pains and the only place of supposed solution she knows is to pray in the church. This woman is one of many other people who are not opportune to be able to treat themselves because they do not have the financial capacity.
For Further Reading
https://www.who.int/news/item/01-02-2024-global-cancer-burden
https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/understanding/statistics
https://www.cancer.gov/types/common-cancers
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/cancer/symptoms-causes/syc-20370588
https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/cancer-symptoms
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11539147/
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2213538322000145
https://www.tchealthng.com/thought-pieces/cancer-care-in-nigeria-a-call-to-action
https://www.roche.com/stories/improving-care-nigeria
https://www.joghr.org/article/12012-this-disease-is-not-for-hospital-myths