At least an estimated 62,000 cancer deaths are recorded annually, while 102 new cases are diagnosed in Nigeria.
Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq disclosed these figures at the foundation-laying ceremony of the N2.5 billion ASR Cancer and Diagnostics Treatment Facility in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, on Friday.
He described the facilityโdonated by Alhaji Abdul แนขamad Rabiu, founder and chairman of BUAโas a kind of giving back to society in a big way, and that it would be named Abdul Samad Rabiu Medical Centre.
Governor Abdulrazaq commended the BUA Foundation for choosing Kwara for the donation, noting that the health centre would boost health care delivery in the state.
โWhen completed, it will become the first of its kind in the north-central geopolitical zone of Nigeria and boost health tourism,โ he added.
He promised to give the foundation all the necessary support towards the completion of the project on time.
Alhaji Abdul Samad Rabiu, the founder of BUA, represented by the Managing Director of ASR Africa, Dr Ubon Udoh, disclosed that the facility would be the fourth in the series of interventions by the foundation in the health sector across the country.
โOver $100 million has been committed by the foundation for interventions in the health and education sectors across the country,โ he said.
In her speech, the Kwara State Commissioner for Health, Dr Amina Ahmed El-Imam, observed that the search for cancer-related treatments has become one of the primary reasons for outbound medical tourism, resulting in the repatriation of about $1.5 billion annually from Nigeria.
โIt has been projected that the burden of cancer as an undeniable cause of death will continue to increase if we do not make specific or deliberate attempts to halt its progression.
โThe anticipated oncology centre and its expected interventional contribution to health care delivery in the state is a great step in the right direction,โ she said.
The Executive Secretary of the Kwara State Primary Healthcare Development Agency, Dr Nusirat Elelu, described cancer as one of the challenges of the global health system today.
โThis is an emerging non-infectious disease that is increasingly becoming of concern due to the alarming increase in incidence, requiring specialist treatment and support,โ she stated.
