The federal government has initiated a planning process that seeks to transform the National Cancer Control Programme (NCCP) into a national agency.
The minister of health, Prof Isaac Adewole who said this recently revealed that the planned agency which is expected to be named National Agency for Cancer Control would provide leadership and technical direction for cancer control in Nigeria.[pro_ad_display_adzone id=”70560″]
The agency which would focus on policy formulation, advocacy and mobolisation, centre of excellence for cancer prevention and care, is to be “modelled similar to Catalan Institute for Oncology which consists of clusters of cancer centres each of which is anchored and linked to a tertiary centre. It will drive comprehensive cancer treatment including palliative care, research and teaching whilst paying attention to the needs of the individual cancer patient.
“The agency shall consist of the following operational units; data bank, a research unit which will address issues regarding; basic science, clinical trials, therapeutic trials, etc; service unit which will further incorporate the following branches that will cater for screening, investigations, specialised care, palliative care as well as mobilisation and advocacy,” the minister of health said.