Why Cancer Mortality is Prevalent in Nigeria - Experience from a Leukemia Survivor

Cancer has become something of a taboo to be mentioned in society today. Even an attempt at getting people aware in other to take preventive measures is shrouded with rebuttals like 'it is not for me' or 'I bind it' - inspired by inherent acceptable societal norms and belief systems today.

I am a ten year Survivor of acute lymphoblastic Leukemia (or in lay man's terms, blood cancer) and while this article is not particularly meant to address my story, I will share some interesting experiences and discoveries about the hidden tale of epidemic cancer mortality today.

A brief Discuss of my story
I started experiencing symptoms early September 2008 with a swollen neck (lymph nodes) but completely ignored it till I was told it could be Momps which can cause sterility. So I took some anti-biotics but the symptoms persisted. Persistent as they were, they remained unattended to until I started experiencing severe bone pain two weeks later. Then came the tests, diagnosis and eventual battle for life with both chemotherapy and the blast cells competing for who's the better killer.

Needless to say I survived, but I was very lucky to do so. You see the WHO puts the estimated number of medically diagnosed cancer cases in Nigeria at 100,000 annually with a mortality rate at 80,000 - making it a whooping four out of five deaths per diagnosis, the highest in the World.

I personally was able to survive primarily because of these factors:

• It was diagnosed very early and treatment began almost immediately
• I come from a well educated, middle class family and was therefore able to afford the very expensive chemotherapy drugs
• I received the best care possible in UBTH (university of Benin Teaching Hospital) and was determined to came out alive (more discourse on this in a later article)

Hence the fact that I have survived so far makes me the only survivor from five other possible deaths. Why then is this silent killer thriving in our society despite the dangers it possess?

Understanding Nigeria's Socio-Economic Dynamics
An accurate analysis of the current background data in the Nigeria space may not be unrelated to the high prevalence of cancer deaths in the Country.

Cultural Background
Nigeria consistently ranks as one of the most religious in the World (an estimated 94% of population). Religion has been positively linked to the acceptance and rejections of certain cancer screenings in parts of Nigeria, according to the Institute of Human Virology Nigeria - which coincidentally are the most common. As early stage treatment is key for survival, a lack of acceptance both pre and post diagnosis due to cultural or religiously motivated beliefs mean that a lot of incident treatments only begin at the later stages.

Culture also promotes the taboo surrounding illness and death with the psychology of non-disclosure so often the preferred choice for victims. Even for survivors, the stigma attached to being a cancer survivor ensures that many conceal that identity for the rest of their lives.

That's Not All
The average per capita income is estimated at $2000 per annum for most households. As poor a margin already, it can actually be considerably lower in reality given an accurate data capturing. Cancer is by no means a cheap treatment anywhere in the World. The common stages involved in cancer treatment in Nigeria currently are:

• chemotherapy
• Radiotherapy
• Surgery

They are either used in isolation or oftentimes together. The estimated cost for treatment ranges from $2000 - $15000 per intensive course even for the most affordable drugs, far outweighing the spending power for most households.

Still not All
Illiteracy and willful ignorance is also prevalent in our society. Literacy rates are less than 2/3rds of the population on the average and can be as low as 1/4th in some states. That and a lack of sensitization promotes unhealthy lifestyle habits potentially encouraging cancer development and advancement.

Government Failure
Of the seven radiotherapy machines serving a population of 180+ million, five are currently moribound, one is private owned and offer services at a relatively higher prices, and just one serves the general public, located in Sokoto State.

This absence of infrastructure and lack of a functional healthcare system is one of the major causative factors even for those who opt for treatment.

I will stop here today because am not a fan of overly long articles, so nobody gets bored. Thank you for taking your time to read this. I posted some useful links if you feel the need for further information. Also, i will love to know if this serves as STEM for @steemstem and @utopian-io, seeing as it is quite personal,even though I am not including the tag, or maybe I should...lol