FG Launches Cervical Cancer Screening Initiative In Imo

The federal government on has launched the Cervical Cancer Screening Programme in Owerri, Imo State as part of its deliberate efforts to curb the rising cancer cases in the country.

Speaking at the event, the Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr Iziaq Salako, reiterated the federal government’s unwavering commitment to the “transformative initiative.”

Salako said the programme reflected President Bola Tinubu’s vision to treat the lives and health of Nigerian women as a national priority.

He said the establishment of the National Institute for Cancer Research and Treatment (NICRAT) in 2023 was a landmark decision to ensure cancer care had a permanent institutional hold.

“This signals that the federal government recognises cancer, including cervical cancer, as a national health priority deserving a permanent institutional hold,” Salako said.

He also disclosed that federal government’s launch of the National Strategic Cervical Cancer Control Plan (2026–2030), a comprehensive framework designed to set specific targets and resource requirements for nationwide cancer control.

He explained that Imo was selected as the South-East flagship due to the visible commitment of Gov. Hope Uzodimma and his wife towards maternal and child health.

In his address, the Director-General of NICRAT, Prof. Usman Aliyu, disclosed that the Owerri rollout was not merely symbolic but a strategic operation with a clear immediate goal to screen at least 10,000 women across the state.

Aliyu explained that the programme was designed to move Nigeria closer to the WHO 90-70-90 strategy – a global initiative aimed at eliminating cervical cancer through high rates of vaccination, screening, and treatment.

“Late presentation remains far too common, driven by persistent gaps in access and awareness.

“This initiative is intended to establish a sustainable and resilient system in which early detection becomes a standard practice rather than the exception,” Aliyu said.

He further explained that the programme, driven by the Partnership for Cervical Cancer Elimination Programme in Nigeria, focuses on four key pillars, namely strategic leadership, capacity building, health equity, and sustainability.

He commended the leadership of the National Task Force, headed by Prof. Isaac Adewole, and the Federal Ministry of Health for providing the policy direction necessary to move from “ambition to implementation”.

In a speech to formally launch the exercise, Uzodimma, underscored the urgent need for increased awareness at the grassroots.

He called on women across the state to come forward for both screening and vaccination, reassuring the public that the “vaccine is free and safe.”

“Cancer now has a solution,” the governor said, while charging traditional and community leaders to spearhead the awareness campaign in their respective domains.

He expressed gratitude to the President for creating an enabling environment for health reforms and lauded the President’s Wife, Sen. Oluremi Tinubu, for her humanitarian gesture in funding the initiative.

“Our population will be strengthened with a healthy population,” he said.

The governor pledged the State Government’s total commitment to ensuring the programme’s success, saying that the goal was total elimination.

Also speaking, the governor’s Wife, Chioma, described the launch as the dawn of a “new era of hope and decisive action” for women in the South-East.

She emphasised the urgency of the intervention, saying that Nigeria recorded approximately 13,676 new cases of cervical cancer in 2023.

She commended the president’s wife for her N1 billion donation to the task force, which had made the expansion of the services possible.

According to her, the programme is designed to expand access to quality screening, promote early detection and awareness, strengthen referral pathways for diagnosis and treatment as well as build local capacity within the health system.

“Cervical cancer remains one of the greatest threats to the health and lives of Nigerian women,” she said.

She urged women to visit designated screening facilities without hesitation.

Imo was designated as the flagship hub for the exercise in the South-East alongside Niger, Bauchi, Rivers, Ogun, and Sokoto States.

NICRAT, an agency of government, constituted the National Task Force on Cervical Cancer Elimination, primarily to operationalise a national policy document on the Elimination of Cervical Cancer in Nigeria.

The document aims to eliminate cervical cancer by 2030, in line with the WHO agenda.