Why Colon Cancer Is Rising In Nigeria

Doctors treating colorectal cancer in Nigeria have raised the alarm over the rising number of Nigerians coming down with the disease. The doctors under the auspices of the Society for Gastroenterology and Hepatology in Nigeria (SOGHIN) disclosed that more Nigerians above 40 years were coming down with colorectal cancer, blaming the development on the lack of periodic screening to detect the disease early since colon cancer usually don’t have symptoms.
Also, lending his voice to the alert, President of SOGHIN, Prof. Musa Borodo, urged Nigerians to imbibe the habit of periodic screening, especially for colon cancer, which he said was becoming a huge burden in Nigeria especially among people above 40. Bodoro and his colleagues spoke at the opening day of SOGHIN 2016 Conference, which started with a workshop on modern technology and surgical skills at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital ( LUTH).
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), nearly two–thirds of annual mortality worldwide is attributable to non–communicable diseases (NCDs), with 70 per cent estimated to occur in low and middle income countries (LMIC).
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is said to account for over 600, 000 deaths annually. Similarly, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) estimates that CRC is the 5th most common cancer in sub Saharan Africa.
According to the president of SOGHIN, diseases such as CRC, liver cancer, helicobacter pyloris and other infections that occur in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract are usually not easy to detect when looking out for signs and symptoms. Even when the symptoms are obvious, it’s often too late to treat, he added. Bodoro said that was the situation in hospitals at the moment and doctors treating GI diseases were disturbed about this development.