FG Targets 30% Cut in Cancer Burden by 2030, Pushes for Stronger Pan-African Collaboration<\/p>\n
The Federal Government has set a target to reduce Nigeria\u2019s cancer burden by at least 30 per cent by 2030 through stronger prevention, early detection, treatment, research and strategic partnerships.<\/p>\n
The Honourable Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr. Iziaq Salako, disclosed this on Friday in Abuja while declaring open the African Organization for Research and Training in Cancer (AORTIC) Best of ASCO Africa 2026 Conference<\/p>\n
The 2-day conference, running from July 10 to 11, brings together oncology experts across Africa to review and adapt key findings from the 2026 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting to African contexts.<\/p>\n
In a statement by Ado Bako, the Ministry’s Assistant Director of Information and Public Relations, Dr. Salako said the conference provides a critical platform to translate global oncology discoveries into practical solutions to improve cancer care and patient outcomes in Africa.<\/p>\n
Citing the 2024 Global Cancer Observatory, the Minister noted that Africa recorded over 1.18 million new cancer cases and more than 721,000 cancer-related deaths, with Nigeria accounting for about 10.5 per cent of the continent\u2019s burden.<\/p>\n
He attributed the rising cases to lifestyle and environmental risks, population ageing, weak early detection programmes, inadequate treatment infrastructure and health inequities.<\/p>\n
Under the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the Minister said cancer prevention and control have become national priorities. This informed the development of the Nigeria National Cancer Control Plan 2026\u20132030.<\/p>\n
The Plan, he explained, covers prevention, diagnosis, treatment, patient navigation, survivorship, research, data management, artificial intelligence, resource mobilisation and workforce development.<\/p>\n
To drive implementation, the Federal Government has inaugurated a multi-sectoral National Technical Working Group comprising clinicians, researchers, survivors, civil society, development partners and the private sector.<\/p>\n
Dr. Salako challenged African researchers to go beyond adopting foreign findings and conduct local studies to validate evidence within African populations.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur challenge is not to take findings from other environments and apply them hook, line and sinker, but to replicate such research in Africa to establish their applicability within our own populations,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He described cancer as an urgent public health challenge requiring coordinated continental action, and called for a new era of Healthcare Pan-Africanism.<\/p>\n
According to him, African nations must elevate health collaboration alongside politics, security and trade through joint research, knowledge sharing, workforce development and coordinated investments in cancer care.<\/p>\n
The Minister commended AORTIC and the Best of ASCO Africa Planning Committee for the conference and urged participants to use the sessions to raise standards of cancer care across the continent.<\/p>\n
Dr. Salako reaffirmed Nigeria\u2019s commitment to provide leadership in cancer research, education, advocacy and partnerships to accelerate progress in prevention, treatment and survivorship in Africa.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
FG Targets 30% Cut in Cancer Burden by 2030, Pushes for Stronger Pan-African Collaboration The Federal Government has set a target to reduce Nigeria\u2019s cancer burden by at least 30 per cent by 2030 through stronger prevention, early detection, treatment, research and strategic partnerships. The Honourable Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":151372,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[3180,3181,1720,100,3182],"class_list":["post-151368","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-others","tag-african-organization-for-research-and-training-in-cancer","tag-cancer-burden","tag-dr-iziaq-salako","tag-fg","tag-pan-african-collaboration"],"yoast_head":"\n