Taskforce To Partner National Assembly On Free Cancer Screening

The National Taskforce on Cervical Cancer Elimination (NTF-CCE), on Monday, said it will work with the leadership of the National Assembly to leverage existing laws and if necessary, enact new regulations to ensure free screening for common cancers in all public health facilities.

The chairman of NTF-CCE, Prof. Isaac Adewole, stated this at a joint press conference with the House of Representatives Committee on Healthcare to mark this year’s World Cervical Cancer Elimination Day.

The Federal Government established NTF-CCE in 2024 as a ministerial committee led by Prof Adewole, a former Minister of Health and a member of the Commonwealth Task Force on Cervical Cancer Elimination.

Represented by Director, Cancer Prevention and Control, National Institute for Cancer Research and Treatment (NICRAT), Dr Usman Waziri, Prof. Adewole said the Task Force has made significant progress towards achieving its mandate to put Nigeria on the path to cervical cancer elimination.

He said the taskforce generated the much-needed political goodwill to catalyse the progress towards cervical cancer elimination, disclosing that the First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, donated N1billion for cervical cancer screening during a visit by the Task Force to the State House.

“The task force recently constituted a national project implementation subcommittee chaired by Prof Okechukwu Ikpeze, the president of the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Nigeria (SOGON). The committee has been mandated to plan a nationwide rollout of HPV testing across the 6 geopolitical zones, using the 1 billion Naira donation from Her Excellency as seed funding. The beneficiary state’s commitment to counterpart funding to ensure sustainability is a prerequisite for selecting the 6 states for the pilot.

“The Launch of Partnership to Eliminate Cervical Cancer in Nigeria (PECCiN) is another landmark achievement of the Task Force. Through the coordinated activities of PECCiN, the taskforce aims to achieve the double 8 goal: vaccinate 8 million adolescent girls and screen 8million women annually. The National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA) will be the lead partner for the vaccination component. At the same time, the National Institute for Cancer Research and Treatment (NICRAT) will be the lead partner for the screening component.

“Migeria has made giant strides in the vaccine coverage despite the gaps. The total number of girls vaccinated with HPV vaccines across Africa in 2022 was about 6 million, before Nigeria introduced its HPV Programme. Since then, in just 2 years, Nigeria alone has vaccinated over 15million girls – more than tripling the number of adolescent girls protected against cervical cancer in Africa.

“Currently, the age-standardised incidence of cervical cancer in Nigeria is 29 cases per 100,000. While cervical cancer is the 4th most common cancer affecting women globally, it is the 2nd most common cancer affecting Nigerian women. The 2022 GLOBACAN statistics estimated that there were 14,089 new cases of cervical cancer annually in Nigeria, with 8,240 estimated cervical cancer-related deaths. The case fatality of about 60% is unacceptably high for a disease that is not only preventable with a vaccine and screening, but also curable if detected early.

“The Task Force has developed a 2-volume strategic plan for cervical cancer elimination and has launched a national cervical cancer screening guideline. The dissemination of the screening guideline to experts from the 36 states is part of the activities lined up by the Task Force to commemorate this year’s cervical cancer elimination day,” he stated.

On his part, the chairman, House Committee on Healthcare Services, Hon. Amos Magaji (APC-Kaduna), said the 10th Assembly was ready to enact, repeal or amend laws to ensure eradication of not just cervical but other forms of cancer in the country.

“Right now, we are even working on ensuring that the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund is increased from 1 per cent to 2 per cent and we are also trying to strengthen the primary healthcare in Nigeria, which is the backrock of healthcare delivery in the country,” the lawmaker added.