It was not long after CancerAware Nigeria started as an NGO that we quickly came to accept the realities of being a non-profit in the country and the huge importance of our work.
Soon, it became obvious that to fight the growing cancer rate in Nigeria, one would need to go beyond the cancer walks and gala nights to the tangible and intangible nature of cancer, mainly the availability and access to treatment facilities.
As such, we embarked on a needs assessment in Lagos state at the Oncology and Radiotherapy Department of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH).
The choice of LUTH as a beneficiary of our intended project was a simple one; with the limited number of functional cancer centers in Nigeria, the hospital caters to a large number of patients on a daily basis.
What quickly became apparent during our assessment exercise was that although the needs of cancer patients in Nigeria were multi-dimensional and huge, the infrastructural challenges facing the medical personnel was equally as essential and vital to our cancer intervention strategy for Nigeria.
Our extensive renovation project of the cancer unit at LUTH was completed in under 3 weeks and included the donation of furniture, medical equipment and a general overhaul of the facility. The project was implemented with the financial support of APM Terminals Apapa, who sponsored it.
The handing over ceremony which took place just in time for Christmas was held on Monday, the 21stof December 2015 and was well attended by officials of the hospital, CancerAware Nigeria and APM Terminals Apapa.
While giving the attendees a tour of the newly renovated facilities, Dr Alabi, a consultant oncologist at the department said the new look of the unit was already having a positive impact on the patients and staff of the facility.
The Head of Radiotherapy and Oncology Department of LUTH, Prof. Remi Ajekigbe commended CancerAware Nigeria for its commitment to the fight against cancer in the country and also for undertaking the project. He also thanked the management of APM Terminals Apapa for their financial support of the project.
This project has given more practical insight into the challenges faced by cancer patients in Nigeria as well as of the medical personnel who treat them. It is part of our short term objectives to scale this project up and create more impact across the country.
WHO WE ARE
CancerAware Nigeria is a Lagos based cancer intervention non-profit that is focused on creating meaningful change in the area of cancer in Nigeria.
To sponsor our campaigns and events or for more information about how to get involved in volunteering your time or resources to create this change, email talk@canceraware.org.ng or call 08188046560
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