TITLE:
The burden of gynecological cancer management in Northern Nigeria
AUTHORS:
Adekunle O. Oguntayo, Marliya Zayyan, Mattew Akpar, Abimbola O. D. Kolawole, Sunday A. Adewuyi
KEYWORDS:
Burden; Cancers Gynecological; Northern; Nigeria
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology,
Vol.3 No.8,
October
30,
2013
ABSTRACT: Background: Carcinoma of the Cervix is one of the gynecologic
cancers. Gynecological cancer is a scourge in the developing nations
because of the burden of cervical cancer. Carcinoma of the cervix is the leading
cause of cancer death in women. The costs of treatment of cancers generally are
very high and this has made care very difficult in the developing nations. The
question therefore is who bears the cost and whose responsibilities? Aims and
Objective: To study the economic burden of cancers on the patient, and how they
source for these funds. To determine how the lack of funds or otherwise has
affected their care. To assess their perception of who should bear the cost of
this care. Methodology: It is a prospective study of all consecutive patients
that attended the Gynecologic clinic of our unit between 2nd January
2010 and 30th June 2010. Data were analyzed using Excel statistical
package. Result: A total of 93 patients were interviewed. A majority of 70 (76%)
of the patients had Carcinoma of the cervix. The mean age of there husbands was
58 years. Most of them were either farmers (21%) or retired civil/public
servants (15%) and earn between 700 - 1700 dollars per year. A large group of
the patients were full time House wives (48%), while Petty trading and farming
account for 13.3% each. The women earn less than 500 dollars per year. Only 50% received assistance, from family members
(35.8%) or relatives (29.6%). More than 50% of them have spent between
1000 - 3000 dollars for their health bills. It was sad to note that 40% of them
have no hope of help/assistance from anywhere. A majority of 83.3% believe that
the government should come to their aids. Conclusion: In the developing
nations, poverty still remains major problem, where people still earn less than
a dollar per day. In essence prevention is paramount; otherwise most of our
women who escaped maternal mortality may end up being a victim of cancer death.