FG intensifies war against cancer

The Federal government is set to commission three of the 12 new cancer preventive and treatment centres in the country, it has emerged.
The first set of the six Cancer Centres of Excellence at the Federal Teaching Hospital, Katsina; the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Nsukka; and the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, will be commissioned by President Bola Tinubu and opened to the public in the coming weeks, as part of the administration’s midterm milestones ahead of May 29.
The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof Ali Pate, who described the initiative as the single largest investment in cancer care in Nigeria’s history in a broadcast, on Saturday, noted that the facilities represent the first phase of a broader plan to establish ten new cancer centres across the country.
Pate emphasised that the initiative aligns with President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda and represents a compassionate, reform-driven approach to public health delivery.
“Under the compassionate leadership of H.E. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and in conformity with his Renewed Hope Agenda, we are removing both supply and demand obstacles to affordable and qualitative cancer care in Nigeria,” he added.
Describing the development as unprecedented, the Minister stressed that the network of oncology and diagnostic centres is expected to be the largest in West Africa, with the capacity to train up to 500 clinicians over three years and serve nearly 2,000 oncology patients and 350,000 diagnostic clients annually.
“This is the most significant investment any Nigerian administration has ever made in cancer care,” Prof. Pate said. “It entails the largest chain of oncology and diagnostic centres in West Africa.”