From Femi Mustapha, in Kaduna
A Non-Governmental Organization under the auspices of HASSY’S Haven Foundation is set to partner with the Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital (ABUTH) to support female vulnerable cancer patients.
The Founder of the organization, Hussaina Mohammed Yakubu disclosed this during an advocacy visit to the Chief Medical Director, ABUTH Shika, Prof Ahmed Umdagas Hamidu today.
Hussaina shared a deeply personal connection to the cause of supporting vulnerable cancer patients and said her late twin sister, Hassana started her eight-year battle with throat cancer, which ended her life in 2023 from the Hospital.
I was there with her through the battle and saw how patients were running up and down for financial and emotional support,” she recounted.
She said that this experience inspired her to be dedicated to empowering lives through compassion and support.
According to her, the Foundation aims to provide interventions specifically targeted at poor and vulnerable female cancer patients.
“We decided to start here because I witnessed firsthand the struggles these patients face,” said Yakubu.
“As one of the biggest and oldest facilities around, ABUTH is the ideal place for us to begin our efforts to collectively touch lives.
“Through this collaboration, HASSY’S Foundation and ABUTH hope to alleviate some of the burdens and improve access to cancer treatment for women in need” she noted.
She said the foundation will partner with experts, to create awareness, to also promote early detection and early treatment, to reduce Cancer mortality.
She explains that their combined efforts will represent a significant step towards a future where every cancer patient has access to the care and support they need.
In his response, the CMD of ABUTH Prof Ahmed Umdagas Hamidu said it is a welcome development and will support the Federal Ministry of Health initiative aimed at providing cancer treatment to indigent Nigerians and strengthening national cancer care.
He said the federal government, under its Cancer Health Fund(CHF) program, deposited N1 million into the wallets of vulnerable cancer patients to support their treatments.
He said the support which is basically for breast, cervical andprostate cancer patients as a way to complement their efforts to enquire adequate treatment.
“Before a breast, or cervical cancer patient can access the wallet, our social health workers will assess the vulnerability of such a patient after which a team of medical experts will examine that eligibility.
“They will send it to me for approval and onward transfer to the Federal Ministry of Health who will then open and credit the intended beneficiary’s account with the non-withdrawable sum of N1m for treatment,” he said.
He said despite FGe efforts, some patients do not come for the treatment due to various constraints, highlighting the need for additional support
He said some patients’ wallets have been credited but they are not coming for treatment because they don’t have money to bring themselves to the hospital.
The CMD also said the Federal government through the Federal Ministry of Health recently created six cancer Centres across the country and luckily ABUTH is one of them.
“We have a lot of versed experts in cancer treatment here and we are doing a lot to make the centre one of the best in terms of affordability and accessibility of quality services when completed” noted.