Abstract 86: The Status of Government-Funded Radiotherapy Centres in Nigeria

Abstract

Abstract Purpose: Access to radiotherapy (RT) is now one of the stark examples of global cancer inequities. Over 800,000 new cancer cases require potentially curative or palliative RT services in Africa, arguably less than 15% of these patients currently have access to this important service. For a population of over 200 million, Nigeria requires a minimum of 280 RT machines for the increasing number of cancer cases. Painfully the country has only 8 government-funded radiotherapy machines. This study aimed to evaluate the status of the eight (8) Government-funded RT centres in Nigeria regarding RT equipment, workforce and infrastructure to quantify their ability to deliver effective RT to their patients. Methods: A survey addressing ten (10) critical areas was used to assess the eight (8) Government-funded RT centres in Nigeria. Results: Unfortunately, 6 of the 8 centres (75%) surveyed have not treated patients with RT over the last 2 years because they do not have functioning teletherapy machines. Only 2 RT centres have the capability of treating patients using advanced RT techniques. There is no PET-CT scan in any of the Government-funded RTcentres. The workforce capacity and infrastructure across the 8 centres are limited. All of the centres lack residency training programmes for medical physicists and radiation therapy technologists (RTTs) resulting in very few well-trained staff. Conclusion: As the Nigeria government plans for the new National Cancer Control Plan, there is an urgent need to scale up access to radiotherapy by upgrading the RT equipment, workforce and infrastructure to meet the current needs of Nigerian cancer patients. While the shortfall is apparent from a variety of radiotherapy-capacity data bases, this detailed analysis provides essential information for an implementation plan involving solutions from within Nigeria and with global partners. Citation Format: Runcie C.W. Chidebe, Chinedu S. Aruah, Tochukwu C. Orjiakor, Fatima Uba, Uchechukwu N Shagaya, Charles Ugwanyi, Aisha A Umar, Taofeeq Ige, Obinna C. Asogwa, Oiza T Ahmadu, Musa Ali-Gombe, Alabi Adewumi, Vitalis C. Okwor, Mutiu A Jimoh, Basheer Bello, Lucy O. Eriba, Yusuf A. Ahmed, Awwal Bisalla, Ukamaka Itanyi, Ramatallah A Balogun, Suleiman Alabi, David Pistenmaa, Coleman C. Norman, Dosanjh Manjit. The Status of Government-Funded Radiotherapy Centres in Nigeria [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 11th Annual Symposium on Global Cancer Research; Closing the Research-to-Implementation Gap; 2023 Apr 4-6. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2023;32(6_Suppl):Abstract nr 86.