By Ojo Oluwafemi
Wife of the Ondo State Governor Mrs Betty Akeredolu, has advocated the use of Tele medicine to diagnose and treat cancer patients in order to avoid future occurrences of a situation where patients couldn’t access medical care due to uncontrollable circumstances as witnessed during the COVID-19 lockdown.
Mrs Akeredolu disclosed this on Thursday at the virtual 2020 Annual General Meeting of the Nigerian Cancer Society with the theme: “Fate of cancer control in the post covid-19 era”.
She said the fate of cancer control in the post COVID-19 era will be determined by the ability of medical professionals to adapt to the current realities taking advantage of Tele-medicine portals (including audio and video facilities) and sustained effective leadership and political will by cancer organizations and government, respectively.
According to her, Tele-health has the potential of reducing the financial burden on cancer patients and their families by reducing long distance travels and bills for stay in hotels and guest houses.
“We must sustain a coordinated approach in the fight against cancer through effective leadership.To achieve this, we must ask ourselves these questions: What is our purpose as NGOs? What is the purpose of the Nigerian Cancer Society?
“If we must continue to recognize cancer as a leading life threatening disease in Nigeria, and attract the support of the government, the importance of credible and strategic leadership cannot be overemphasized
“For many years, we have yearned for a Nigerian Cancer Society that unites and leads all cancer organizations in Nigeria, yet the supposedly umbrella organization has not fully achieved this aim.
“Indeed, if we must be successful in the post COVID-19 cancer fight, the Nigerian Cancer Society must step up and lead the way.
“The pandemic has taken us back in our efforts to combat cancer globally. In Nigeria, we urgently need to take advantage of new technologies in Tele-medicine in our approach to patients’ presentation, diagnosis and treatment” She said.
The Governor’s wife noted that with the new executive council, and hopefully with fresh ideas, the society will be rebuilt to deal with challenges in cancer control to improve access to care and survival.
Mrs Akeredolu however commended the Nigerian Cancer Society(NCS) for putting the virtual meeting together, even in these peculiar times.
Mrs Betty Akeredolu is the founder, Breast Cancer Association of Nigeria(BRECAN) and spoke at the event on behalf of all Non-Governmental Organisations(NGOs)
