Pate Decries Rising Cancer Cases as Disease Kills 80,000 Annually, Oncology Centre Launched in Katsina

Nigeria’s Minister of Health, Professor Muhammad Ali Pate, has raised alarm over the country’s soaring cancer burden, revealing that cancers cause around 80,000 deaths each year out of an estimated 127,000 annual cases.

Speaking at the commissioning of a new oncology centre at the Federal Teaching Hospital, Katsina, Professor Pate said non-communicable diseases such as cancer are “among the fastest-growing components” of Nigeria’s disease profile.

“With this trend, the country is expected to see a rise in cancer cases,” he warned.

The minister described the newly inaugurated facility as “the best cancer centre in the world”, adding: “It’s a promise kept by Mr President. It’s we Nigerians that can fix our own health sector, not any other country.”

The Katsina Cancer Centre was remodelled and equipped under the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare’s Oncology Initiative in partnership with the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA). It boasts advanced equipment, including a True Beam linear accelerator and a Varian Bravos brachytherapy device for treating cervical and prostate cancers.

According to Chief Medical Director of the Federal Teaching Hospital, Dr Suleiman Bello, the centre also features a 20-bed chemotherapy suite with private VIP rooms, a pharmacy compounding room for preparing chemotherapeutic drugs, and a 64-slice CT simulator for detailed 3D imaging used in radiation therapy planning.

“Patients that now opt to travel abroad for cancer treatment do so out of choice, not because they cannot be treated in Nigeria,” Dr Bello said. “The equipment supplied is top notch and the same as those obtained in the best cancer treatment centres globally.”

Katsina State Governor Dikko Radda, represented by Secretary to the State Government, Abdullahi Faskari, described the centre as a “bold step” towards reducing the cancer burden and improving survival outcomes.

“Globally, cancer is the leading cause of mortalities with approximately 10 million deaths annually,” he said. “In Nigeria, over 70 percent of patients present at late stages where treatments are limited and outcomes are poor, underscoring the urgent need for specialised healthcare facilities like the radiotherapy and oncology centre commissioning today.”