Funding Cancer Research is Critical – IHVN CEO

The Chief Executive Officer of the Institute of Human Virology Nigeria (IHVN), Dr. Patrick Dakum has stressed the need for funding cancer research to address the disease in Nigeria. Dr. Dakum said this during the just concluded International Research Center of Excellence (IRCE) 2nd Annual Scientific Symposium in Abuja.

“We are learning that to get a drug to treat most cancers, you must invest between 100 to 1 billion dollars over years. This is an investment in research alone, not yet in providing care and treatment for people. Nigeria needs to put money into solving local problems with local solutions. We are still grappling with ensuring that the person who needs malaria, tuberculosis, and HIV treatment gets it and 80% of that is still paid for from outside the country,” Dr Dakum said.

He said that many factors have led to poor treatment for cancer patients such as lack of skilled human resources and early retirement of more experienced physicians due to the retirement age.

“You don’t allow experienced people to leave, you ensure that the mentoring they have started with younger people is continued. For us at IHVN, this symposium is an opportunity for experience sharing, not just with experts from within Nigeria but with those from other countries like the United States.

We see an improved collaboration between scientists from the University of Maryland and Nigerian scientists, which is a win-win. They will tell you that they are not just here to teach but also to learn from local scientists. With experience sharing across all levels, we can look forward to better implementation and utilization of existing resources and structures to care for both infectious and non-infectious diseases,” the CEO said. 

Also at the symposium, Prof. King-David Terna Yawe, a breast surgeon and surgical oncologist, said that the incidence of cancers in the country is alarming and requires finances.

“It is right that the government has set up the National Institute for Cancer Research and Treatment  (NICRAT). It is also important to back up that body with the facilities to work and there has to be a good contribution from the government, from the non-governmental sector, from the industry and so on. Cancer is everybody’s business. One of the challenges that our generation faces is that as we try to conquer infectious diseases, we are opening the room for non-communicable diseases to take over and the statistics of the increasing incidence of cancer. Out of every ten people, one of them will come down with cancer. That means that we have to prepare for tomorrow,” he said. The IRCE 2nd Annual Scientific Symposium which held at the IHVN Campus in Abuja, attracted both local and international experts on sickle cell and cancers to discuss the theme, “Expanding Partnerships to Sickle Cell Disease and Cancer Research.”