The ordeal of Mrs Jonah and Mr Zira largely mirrors the financial burden and emotional troubles many cancer patients in Nigeria cope with in the absence of government support and investment into cancer treatment.Elisha Zira is a civil servant based in Abuja, Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory , who earns less than N100,000 as monthly salary.
He decried the poor coverage of cancer treatment by the National Health Insurance Scheme , saying: “The only thing NHIS covered through my treatment period have been some laboratory tests. Anything outside this is not covered by the health scheme.”“My treatment is costing me almost N2 million already and I am not done with it yet. If the NHIS covers cancer treatment, I won’t be looking for help everywhere.
Breast cancer, the most common type of cancer and the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in women around the world, has continued to claim lives in Nigeria. However, 16 years after and despite billions of naira pumped into the scheme since inception, millions of Nigerians, and mostly civil servants, who have been enrolled into the scheme like Mr Zira, say they are not getting quality services.
A recent study, which is titled “Access to Care and Financial Burden for Patients with Breast Cancer in Ghana, Kenya, and Nigeria” and published in Journal of Clinical Oncology in 2019, shows that at least 72 per cent of breast cancer patients in Nigeria pay out-of-pocket for their treatment, in comparison with at least 45 per cent in Ghana, and just 8 per cent in Kenya, where most of the costs are covered by the country’s health insurance scheme.
Mr Chidebe, who is a member of the World Cancer Day advisory group, a Geneva-based group and hosted by the Union for International Cancer Control , said though Nigeria has rolled out unique plans for cancer treatment, “these plans have not translated to actual interventions because the government does not see cancer treatment as a priority.”
It added that the plan provides direction as to how the country’s health ministry envisions cancer control efforts in the next five years. He said the scheme is working with the International Labour Organisation on the actual valuation of its comprehensive benefits package. “There will be a creation of a fund, either a cancer treatment fund or whatever we decide to call it. It is important and can be driven by investment or donation,” the minister said.