Forty per cent
of men aged about 40 years are living with prostate cancer and many are
unaware of their status, an expert has said.
Ovunda Omudu, head, department of
surgery at the Braithwaite Memorial Specialist Hospital, disclosed this
on Thursday while delivering a lecture on cancer to officers and ratings
of the Nigeria Navy Ship Pathfinder in Port Harcourt.
Omudu, a trained urologist, said the
disease has killed many due to several factors, including poor
awareness, knowledge, ignorance and manpower.
According to him, treatment for the
disease is equally very expensive as it cost between N90,000 to N110,000
per injection administered to a patient every three months.
“Prostate cancer is one of the leading
killer diseases in men in Nigeria and the second cause of cancer deaths
in men worldwide,” Omudu said.
“Here in Nigeria, we do not have a
national budget designated for prostate cancer as obtainable in some
western nations, which meant that treatment lies solely on the sufferer.
“Due to exchange rate, a 10.8 milligram
of prostate cancer injection goes for N90,000 to N110,000, which a
patient takes once every three months. Similarly, 3.6 milligram of the
same injection which is taken every month is sold for N45,000 combined
with drug which cost N27,000 per dosage.
“So, you can imagine that every month a
retiree or pensioner with prostate cancer will spend roughly N120,000 to
treat the disease. So, it is very important that we do our best to
prevent the disease and stop paying salary to prostate cancer via drugs
and medication.”
Omudu said that surgery to remove
prostate cancer abroad cost about $10,000 (N4.85 million) while cost of
travelling, hospital and hotel accommodation increased the figure to N7
million.
Omudu, however, said that a foundation based in the country had intervened by reducing cost for laser surgery to N600,000.
He said the disease could be prevented
by eating consumables like red tomato, green tea, sea foods, such as
periwinkles and snails, and regular exercise.
“Green tea contained anti-oxidant and
anti-free radicals while the sea foods have magnesium, manganese,
selenium and vitamin E and D which are nutrients for prevention of the
disease,” he said.
Omudu said that efforts were currently
being made to reduce the number by creating more awareness and training
of additional Urologist doctors to provide needed expertise.
The medical doctor advised officers and
ratings to take measures to prevent the diseases, especially going by
the nature of their jobs which demanded physical fitness.
Speaking, Obi Egbuchulam, the Commander
of Nigeria Navy Ship (NNS), said the base organised the lecture to
expose troops to dangers posed by the disease.
He said that some serving and retired
naval officers and ratings were currently suffering from prostate cancer
which could affect their ability to provide optimal service to the
country.
“I think it is our responsibility to
educate and enlighten our personnel on dangers of prostate cancer, so
that they can live a happy and healthy life serving and after
retirement,” Egbuchalam said.
“Some people developed this disease due
to ignorance and so, this lecture is taking place together with a free
Prostate Specific Antigen screening to enable our personnel know their
cancer status.”
Egbuchulam assured that the exercise
would be a regular and urged personnel from other units and formations
to always get tested. (NAN)
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