Over 8,000 Women Die Of Cervix Cancer In Nigeria Annually

No fewer than 8,000 women diagnosed with cancer of the cervix are losing their lives annually in Nigeria.

This figure was made known by the Medical Women Association of Nigeria, at the official kickoff of free cervical screening for all Women in Kogi State.

Speaking to newsmen, on Friday, as part of activities to mark the 2021 International Women’s Day, the President, Medical Women Association of Nigeria, Kogi State Chapter, Dr Abimbola Adesanya, said Cancer of the cervix is ranked amongst the top three cancers affecting women globally.

She said in 2018, an estimated 570,000 women were diagnosed with cancer of the cervix worldwide.

Dr Adesanya who is a consultant Public Health Physician at Federal Medical Centre Lokoja added that over 300,000 women die annually from the disease with over 80per cent of cases occurring in developed countries.

“In Nigeria, an estimated 10,000 new cases are being diagnosed every year, with 8000 women dying from cancer every year,” She added.

The consultant Public Health Physician averred further that this year international women day is coming at the time, the world is battling with a common enemy called “coronavirus” adding that the screening will help women know their cancer status and how to go about it for treatment.

Although she noted that scientists have not been able to ascertain the actual cause of cancer, Dr Adesanya maintained that there are risk factors that could make women get cancer.

The international women days which is observed globally on the 8th of March annually has this year Theme: ‘Women in leadership: Achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 world.

The day was first celebrated in 1911 in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland, according to the international media.

The lineage of the celebration can be traced back to 1908 when 15,000 female workers marched in New York City as they sought more humane working hours, better pay and the right to vote.

One year after Nigeria recorded its first COVID-19 index case, the country has not been able to meet its testing target.

On February 27, 2020, Nigeria’s first index case of COVID-19 was confirmed in Lagos. This was the first reported case in Sub-Saharan Africa. An Italian, who had just returned from Milan, Italy on the 25th of February 2020, was confirmed by the Virology Laboratory of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), and managed at the Infectious Disease Hospital (IDH) in Yaba, Lagos

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