By Okechukwu Onuegbu
A lecturer at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra State, Professor Stanley Anyanwu, has identified quackery, belief in spirituality and use of orthodox medicine as responsible for the rising cases of breast cancer in the country.
Anyanwu, a Professor of Surgery in the Faculty of Medicine, stated this while delivering 2nd UNIZIK Jubilee Academic Lecture (JAL), entitled "Silver Reflections, Golden Horizons: One Surgeon’s Pioneering Breast Cancer Research and Care in Nigeria."
JAL is an academic lecture presented by academics who have been professors for over 25 years and still in active service. Anyanwu’s presentation is the second time it is taking place in Unizik.
According to him, most women fail to present themselves for diagnosis which could lead to early detention and treatment of breast cancer due to "belief in spirituality and spiritual linkage to disease, poverty and illiteracy, as well as deceit of patients by quacks and missed diagnosis by some doctors.”
The professor of Surgical Oncology said, “If you present yourself early, we will treat you because it reduces the risk, but if you present late, there is nothing we can do about it."
He listed the symptoms as one percent patients presented with ‘screen-detected’ lesions, breast mass, pain and nipple discharge, including cough, dyspnea, backache, weight loss, chest pain and jaundice.
“Government must invest in strengthening the health system in Nigeria, clinicians must embrace innovation and tem work, young surgeons should also choose compassion as boldly as they choose science, while society should break the silence around breast cancer. Finally, I must say that research and continuous research can help overcome the problem of breast cancer," he added.