The Federal Government, through the Federal Ministry of Health, has committed to supporting a leadership program aimed at empowering women in oncology to appropriately address cancer in society.
This measure is driven by the understanding that women play a vital role in advancing healthcare for women, particularly in the fight against breast and cervical cancer, which are the most common types of cancer affecting women. to women in Nigeria.
Speaking to journalists in an interview on the sidelines of the launch of the Leadership Program for Women in Oncology (LPWO), the Head of the National Cancer Control and Nuclear Medicine Programme, Federal Ministry of Health, Dr. Uchechukwu Emmanuel Nwokwu, said: recognizes the importance of preventive measures, such as vaccination against human papillomavirus (HPV), to reduce the incidence of cancer.
The Leadership Program for Women in Oncology (LPWO) is an initiative of the City Cancer Challenge Foundation (C/Can) and the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) to equip women oncologists in low- and middle-income countries with skills essential leadership skills. to drive transformative change in cancer care. Speaking further, Nwokwu noted that despite the success of the vaccination programme, some women have been hesitant to participate due to misconceptions about the vaccine.
Nwokwu said: “By supporting women in leadership roles in oncology, the government hopes to increase uptake of the vaccine and other cancer prevention services.
“The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health, a woman, has been instrumental in driving positive change in the field of oncology.
“His passion and leadership have delivered significant results, surpassing those of his predecessors.
“The ministry's four-point agenda, which focuses on improving governance, demographic outcomes, value chain and health technology, also aligns with the objectives of the leadership programme.
“By supporting this initiative, the government aims to improve the utilization of cancer care services, including vaccination, screening and early detection.
“The ministry is confident that empowering women in leadership roles in oncology will have a positive impact on the country's efforts to prevent and control cancer.”
Also speaking was City Cancer Challenge Foundation (C/Can) Regional Director for Africa and Europe, Sophie Bussmann-Kemdjo, speaking about the leadership programme, revealing that the Foundation's focus is on the power of women and cancer. to show how much having women being more inclusive of women in the workforce could also contribute to patient outcomes.
He added that in response to that, going back to the Nigerian context, Nigeria is no different in terms of how this can benefit.
“The cohort, of course, is a cohort that started with 10 women. So we have 10 women from the previous cohort. This cohort is another 10 women who will participate in it.
“Today we are launching the program, the second cohort today. And there are many needs in Nigeria in terms of, in most countries. It is not something specific to Africa, but specific to Nigeria.
“The cohort has women from Latin America, Asia and Eastern Europe, because this is a global challenge that we are addressing.
“That challenge was also a promise that brought us to the Clinton Global Initiative platform in New York, where we launched it for 10 million in funding over seven years, where we will actually also be scaling and listening, implementing solutions that will address this problem of gender gap.
“We are here to say that we have identified this in the work we do in cities through our engagement process, when we do due diligence and when we also meet with our professional.
“We've also seen it in the global space where we say the earth is a very respectable commission for women's power and cancer,” she said.
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