Wife of the Ondo State Governor, Mrs. Betty Akeredolu on Friday urged government and stakeholders to support survivors and patients of breast cancer across the nation.
She lamented that some of the breast cancer patients and survivors are going through hard time due to lack of institutional support, adding that treatment of breast cancer is very expensive which makes live unbearable for some of the victims.
Speaking in Ibadan at a press conference to mark the 25th Anniversary and 4th International Breast Cancer Symposium of the Breast Cancer Association of Nigeria, (BRECAN), Akeredolu maintained that breast cancer victims should have access to adequate and affordable treatment.
She noted that a lot of Nigerian women are dying needlessly as a result of breast cancer, stating that access to affordable breast cancer treatment has become big problem for some of the victims.
“Government should lessen access to treatment for breast cancer by providing facilities and machines at treatment centres because the treatment is huge, when people don’t have money and can not afford it, they end up in dying untimely,”, she stated.
The BRECAN President, while speaking on the theme of this year’s anniversary: “Closing the Data Gap for Precision Cancer Control in Nigeria” said there is need to close gap in data collection of breast cancer victims and survivors across the nation.
She said it’s high time for Nigeria as a nation to have her own statistics to know if truly women are surviving breast cancer and to cater for the well being of the victims.
While sharing her experience as a victim, she maintained that BRECAN has become voice to the voiceless for breast cancer patients and survivors, adding that its activities has motivated a lot of women to show up in hospital for screening and treatment.
“I have put it behind me, it started 25years ago. Although it was traumatic when it started, but with the supports of my husband and the children as well as the entire family, I have been able to pull through. My state of mind also helped.
“The positive attitude during difficult times sometimes make someone to pull through . My children have been my anchor!
“That’s why I summoned courage to be the voice of the breast cancer victims.
“Before I started, most of the women were under the table and hiding in the wardrobe because they don’t want anybody to know. Because of me, they braced up and they have been going to the hospital.
“That most of the survivors of breast cancer are rich individuals might not be totally wrong because the burden of treating breast cancer is huge. The capital outlay is huge, that’s why it looks as if the rich survive it.
“We have embarked on some interventions, we want to become one stop shop where women can get adequate information on cancer, and the hallmark of this celebration is to showcase that women still survive cancer.”
She however called for support towards funding the association so that it can continue to grow as well as extend to the 36 states of the federation.
“The government is not supporting and that’s why most of the patients give up and prefer to die. But it shouldn’t be!
“The government should make breast cancer treatment accessible. Then, those that will resign to fate would drastically reduce”, Akeredolu concluded.
