The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Femi Gbajabiamila, has congratulated the Marcelle Ruth Cancer Centre & Specialist Hospital, Ikoyi Lagos, for being the first of such centres in Nigeria.
Hon Gbajabiamila said with the take-off of the centre in April, Nigerians have at last gotten a cancer centre with a state-of-the-art facility for chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery, a one-stop centre obtainable anywhere in the world.
Over 70,000 cancer patients die annually in Nigeria. The top five most common type of cancer in Nigeria are breast, cervix uteri, prostate, liver and non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Breast cancer is the most common with an estimated 25.7% of the total number, followed by cervical cancer with 14.6%
In July 2009, former First Lady of Nigeria, Mrs Turai Yar'adu'a launched the first cancer center initiative in Nigeria. The project attracted billions of naira in donations and partnerships from both national and international partners.
More than a decade later, the project is yet to be completed and commissioned for use.
In a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Lanre Lasisi, the Speaker said he was proud of the Marcelle Ruth Cancer Centre and Specialist Hospital for being the pioneer.
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“I congratulate the founders, Dr Modupe Elebute-Odunsi and Mr Bolaji Odunsi, and the management of the Marcelle Ruth Cancer Centre & Specialist Hospital, Victoria Island, Lagos for this great feat.
“I am elated to be associated with this success story as I attended the formal opening of the centre in April. Within just a few months of your operations, you have started to prove that you can be trusted.
“Your story is not only encouraging but also inspiring. I am more than happy that this ‘comprehensive healthcare centre is the first of its kind in Nigeria and, indeed, West Africa,” the Speaker said.
According to the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) about N576 billion($1.2 billion) is lost yearly to medical tourism. They point out that this amount can be put into improving the state of the Nigerian medical sector. For contrast, this amount is over N100billion less than the allocated medical budget for 2021 which stands at 632.7billion.
Nigeria has continued to suffer from inadequate funding of health facilities, poorly paid and often overworked medical officers. This has resulted in the trend of emigration by medical personnel. According to the U.K. General Medical Council website, there are over 8,178 medical doctors in the UK with Nigerian origin.
