Childhood cancer: Foundation wants collaborative funding, massive awareness

Ini Billie, Uyo

Akanimo Cancer Foundation has advocated for collaborative funding and massive awareness of childhood cancer in Nigeria.

Speaking after an awareness walk to mark the International Childhood Cancer Day in Uyo on Thursday, the spokesperson of Akanimo Cancer Foundation, Mrs Emem Mendie, said already, 12 children have so far received sponsorship for cancer treatment in Akwa Ibom State.

Mendie stated that five children were currently being sponsored besides the seven that had already been sponsored for the treatment.

She mentioned that the walk which was carried out simultaneously in Kano, Abuja, Lagos, Uyo and Port Harcourt was designed to raise the awareness that children also get cancer.

“Today is International Childhood Cancer Awareness Day. It is held every February 15, all over the world. There is a huge need for the acknowledgement of this reality.

“It should be known that cancer is a disease, it can be treated and it can be cured especially in children because if people do not even believe it is a disease, how will they show up for treatment? Every child deserves a chance at living life at its fullest”, she stated.

Mendie explained that the foundation was birthed through the cancer case of a 10-year-old boy in 2017, noting that the fastest way to combat childhood cancer is early detection, prompt medical care and widespread awareness.

She stated that the foundation seeks to reach every mother, father and child and to let them know that sometimes the body cells can malfunction and fail to grow the way they are supposed to, and they cause problems for humans, even children.

“It happens to adults and it happens to children too. Since its inception 2 years ago. Akanimo Cancer Foundation has sponsored 7 children for treatment. 5 presently”, she said.

Mendie listed the symptoms of childhood cancer to include: unusual persistent pain including headaches, long-lasting fevers including low-grade fevers with or without vomiting, change of eye colour /whiteness of the eye, swelling in a part of the body that won’t go down, persistent constipation and/or bellyache, and persistent tiredness/fatigue.

She cautioned parents against smoking or letting people smoke around their children, and advised them to get HPV vaccines, yearly medical checkups for all family members and if in doubt, get a second opinion on medical examination.

Also speaking on Childhood cancer, a Paediatrician at the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital, Dr Lovina Ekpo called on the Federal and State Governments to make budgetary provisions for cancer funding, especially for children, adding that the cost of treatment is far beyond the reach of a common Nigerian.

Ekpo urged governments across levels to provide research grants in childhood cancer to assist Nigeria step up the survival rate among child victims in the country.

She advised parents to make hospitals their first point of contact when symptoms such as fever, bone pains, bleeding gum and others persist.

She commended the Akanimo Cancer Foundation for its support for victims of childhood cancer and for creating awareness and tasked other public-spirited individuals to take the advocacy to rural communities across the country.