A Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), Kubwa Achievers Lion Club, on Saturday settled the medical bills of four cancer patients at the National Hospital, Abuja.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the sum of N900,000 paid by the group covered the treatment of three children and one teenager for a period of one-week.
Mr Samson Adeniran, the Chairman, Childhood Cancer Project of the group, said it was in the hospital because of sympathy and feeling for parents, who could not afford the medical bills for cancer treatment.
According to Adeniran, the group has five core mandates it performs every year, one of them is the care for childhood cancer, which it does towards paying the bills for some of them as a way of giving back to the society.
He lamented the high cost of cancer treatment at the hospital every week, saying that, an average family in Nigeria could face difficulty with this kind of payment, if there was no assistance from somewhere.
“If you multiply all these weekly thing in a month, imagine what the treatment will be for each of them in a month, if this lingers on, for three to four months, it will ruin an average family in Nigeria.
“Unfortunately, Nigeria doesn’t have a good health policy, where the children could be accommodated and receive help through that platform.
“I will appreciate if the bill for the treatment of cancer is waved in Nigeria, especially for the children, this treatment can destabilize a family,’’ he added.
The chairman stressed that the group was carrying out the philanthropic gesture to encourage policy makers in Nigeria to include in their policy, free cancer treatment for children.
According to him, some of these children did not know how they got into the challenge of cancer, hence the need to make treatment of childhood cancer free.
Adeniran noted that there was no any Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) that could continue to manage payment for childhood cancer at the hospital, adding that, there should be a policy where government could come up to assist these people.
He, however, called for special fund for the treatment of cancer, saying that, it should be a priority from now on, going by the increasing rate of cancer in Nigeria.
The philanthropist urged the nation to start preparing for emergency, by working towards the production of its own medication, adding that COVID-19 had really thought us that we were not prepared for.
Mr Adebayo Olanrewaju, the President of the club, disclosed that the selection process of those who benefited from the support was done through an insider from the hospital, who happened to be a member of the club.
He said that the insider made a random selection of those whose health conditions were under serious emergency, hence the need to carry out the support immediately.
The Project Director, Mr Akindele-Abiodun Samuel, stated that the support was to commemorate the International Lion Club month, which was usually done in March, every year.
Mrs Helen Tega, Chief of Staff to the District Governor, District 404 A2, also a member of the club, noted that they were in the hospital, to put smiles on the faces of the parents.
She said that they had to choose the three children and the teenager because their parents could not afford the bills, adding that their issues were peculiar, as cancer treatment was too expensive.
Tega called on the government to pay more attention to the health sector, especially those living with cancer and kidney challenges, by subsidizing the payment for their treatment.
One parent out of the three children, Mrs Aondoka was full of appreciation to the group.
She prayed God to continue to bless the group and replenished their pocket.
