Shettima: Nigeria accounts for 10.5% of Africa’s cancer burden

Nigeria bears a significant portion of Africa's cancer burden, accounting for approximately 10.5% of the continent's cancer cases and deaths, Vice President Kashim Shettima revealed. Speaking at the Second African Primary Health Care Forum in Abuja, Shettima announced the Federal Government's commitment to reducing the nation's cancer burden by 30% by 2030. This ambitious target is to be achieved through a comprehensive Nigerian National Cancer Control Plan for 2026-2030. According to figures cited from the Global Cancer Observatory, Africa recorded over 1.18 million new cancer cases and more than 721,000 cancer-related deaths in 2024. The Vice President, represented by Dr. Uju Rochas-Anwukah, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Health, detailed that the national plan aims to strengthen all aspects of cancer care, from prevention and early detection to diagnosis, treatment, and palliative care. The government is actively expanding Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination and cervical cancer screening programs, with the goal of eliminating cervical cancer as a public health challenge by 2030. Beyond cancer, the administration is also enhancing care for individuals with sickle cell disorder and developing Nigeria's first National Brain Health Agenda. Shettima highlighted the increasing pressure on the healthcare system from non-communicable diseases like cancer, hypertension, and diabetes, emphasizing the need to bolster primary healthcare facilities for effective prevention and management. He also pointed to the integration of artificial intelligence into the National Cancer Control Plan to improve cancer services and clinical decision-making. However, Shettima stressed the critical importance of developing digital health solutions using local data, warning that algorithms trained on other populations could misinterpret African patients' conditions. "An algorithm trained on other populations will misread Africa’s patients, so the model must be built and validated on this soil," he stated, calling for deeper collaboration among African governments, researchers, and development partners.

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The Global Cancer Observatory recorded more than 1.18 million new cancer cases and above 721,000 cancer deaths on this continent in 2024. Nigeria alone accounts for about 10.5 per cent of that burden.