The president-elect of the International Cancer Control (ICC) and wife of the minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Dr Zainab Shinkafi Bagudu, has said that with the launching of the partnership to eliminate Cervical Cancer under the National Task Force on Cervical Cancer Elimination, Nigeria is set to eradicate the cancer pandemic by the year 2030.
Dr Bagudu, who chaired the local organising committee and is the president-elect of ICC, made the disclosure during the initiative’s launch.
She noted that the partnership was designed to accelerate action, accountability, and impact, which aligns closely with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
According to her, the bold initiative is a collective effort of the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, World Health Organisation, National Institute for Cancer Research and Treatment and other global organisations to ensure coordinated action and resource mobilisation.
“The initiative has already recorded significant achievements, with about 13 million girls vaccinated against cancer by the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA), ” Dr Bagudu said.
“With this collaboration, Nigeria is poised to achieve the elimination of Cervical Cancer by 2030, setting a model for other countries to follow,” she added.
She called for more innovative funding mechanisms to facilitate screening and early detection, warning that cancer control cannot be left solely to government, especially amid global health funding uncertainties caused by the withdrawal of U.S. support for life-saving intervention through agencies such as GAVI and USAID.
