Shettima: Nigeria Accounts For 10.5% Of Africa’s Cancer Burden
Vice President Kashim Shettima has raised concerns over Nigeria’s growing cancer burden, disclosing that the country accounts for about 10.5 per cent of Africa’s cancer cases and deaths.
He also announced the Federal Government’s target to reduce the country’s cancer burden by 30 per cent by 2030 through a comprehensive national cancer control strategy.
Shettima spoke on Thursday at the Second African Primary Health Care Forum in Abuja, where he said the government had adopted the Nigerian National Cancer Control Plan 2026–2030 to address the rising incidence of the disease.
Represented by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Health, Dr Uju Rochas-Anwukah, the Vice President cited figures from the Global Cancer Observatory, which recorded more than 1.18 million new cancer cases and over 721,000 cancer-related deaths across Africa in 2024.
“The Global Cancer Observatory recorded more than 1.18 million new cancer cases and above 721,000 cancer deaths on this continent in 2024. Nigeria alone accounts for about 10.5 per cent of that burden,” he said.
According to Shettima, the National Cancer Control Plan is designed to strengthen cancer prevention, early detection, diagnosis, treatment and palliative care.
“We have answered with the Nigerian National Cancer Control Plan for 2026 to 2030 and a commitment to reduce our cancer burden by at least 30 per cent by the end of this decade,” he said.
He added that the government was expanding Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination and cervical cancer screening programmes as part of efforts to eliminate cervical cancer as a public health challenge by 2030.
The Vice President also disclosed that the administration was implementing measures to improve care for people living with sickle cell disorder, while establishing a Brain Health Desk under the National Mental Health Programme and developing Nigeria’s first National Brain Health Agenda.
He noted that non-communicable diseases such as cancer, hypertension and diabetes were placing increasing pressure on the country’s healthcare system.
According to him, primary healthcare facilities must be strengthened to improve the prevention, early detection and management of chronic diseases.
Shettima also highlighted the role of technology in healthcare delivery, saying artificial intelligence had been integrated into the National Cancer Control Plan to enhance cancer services and support clinical decision-making.
He, however, stressed the need for digital health solutions to be developed using local data to ensure they accurately reflect African populations.
“An algorithm trained on other populations will misread Africa’s patients, so the model must be built and validated on this soil,” he said.
The Vice President called on African governments, researchers and development partners to deepen collaboration in cancer prevention and control, stressing that sustained investment in primary healthcare, technology and health financing would be critical to reducing the continent’s disease burden.
