NSIA convenes maiden oncology summit to improve cancer care in Nigeria

In a statement on Monday, NSIA said the summit, which took place in Lagos, was aimed at driving collaborations amongst partners and improving overall patient outcomes in cancer care.

NSIA said participants included over 200 medical professionals in oncology, over 11 Nigerian tertiary hospitals as well as over 10 external collaborators from the University of Chicago; American Oncology Institute India; American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO); Bio Ventures for Global Health (BVGH); Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre; American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Centre (UPMC).

During the summit, the medical professionals split into focus groups across various speciality areas to discuss barriers to oncology care in Nigeria, possible solutions to address the same, and retention plans for homegrown talent.

The NSIA set up the NSIA Healthcare Development Investment Company (NHDIC) to address medical infrastructure gaps, develop strategic collaborations to improve patient care and enhance the talent pool of medical professionals.

In 2019, NSIA established the NSIA–LUTH Cancer Centre (NLCC) – an outpatient oncology centre that has since attended to over 10,000 unique cancer patients.

The organisation also invested in two diagnostic projects located within the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital and the Federal Medical Centre, Umuahia.

NSIA said it is now in the process of scaling these interventions with three additional oncology centres, 23 diagnostic centres, and seven catheterisation laboratories across the six geopolitical zones.

The NSIA has also set up another wholly-owned subsidiary called Equilease Systems Limited to offer alternative financial solutions to care providers, to ease the burden of high acquisition and maintenance costs of modern medical equipment through strategic partnerships with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs).

This is an AI-assisted report.