Prostate cancer is taking away Nigerian men in their prime - Pat Utomi

A professor of political economy, Prof. Pat Utomi, has said that prostate cancer is taking away Nigerian men in their prime years, saying there is a need for men to show extra concern for their health.

Utomi made this declaration on Wednesday at the 2023 Men on Blue prostate cancer webinar, organised by Project Pink Blue (PPB), Inclusive Cancer Care Research Equity for Black Men Consortium, and JNCI International, both NGOs.

Supreme News reports that the webinar, which had leading cancer scientists, health system experts, and stakeholders, was organised to commemorate International Men’s Day.

The professor called on Nigerian men to see prostate health as an obligation, as well as to carry out annual medical checkups of their bodies, including prostate cancer, stressing that his father passed away of cancer at age 52.

“At the onset of COVID-19, around 2020, my prostate-specific antigen (PSA) was found to be elevated, and I was asked to see a urologist and later had a direct rectal examination.

“The results now showed positive for prostate cancer”. “A disease is a disease; what is the difference between malaria and cancer? I had 45 sessions of radiotherapy, hormone treatment, and other medications.

“Today, my PSA has dropped to a normal level. My hormone treatment will go on until next year,” he stressed.

Utomi said that there is a lot of ignorance about prostate cancer, wondering why enough has not been done to make men aware.

According to him, there are lots of men his age who are having problems with their prostate, but they are hiding it, and unfortunately, they are dying.

The professor noted that treating cancer was not affordable in Nigeria, adding that there was a need for public-private sector collaboration and investment.

He, however, said that so many bottlenecks exist in setting up a cancer centre in Nigeria and that the Nigeria Nuclear Radiation Authority charges for a licence to import equipment, fees to register the premises, and more fees to commission the equipment.

He disclosed that N17.5 million was required to set up one cancer machine, in addition to customs duties and many others, adding that these charges had now been passed on to the cancer patients.

Utomi, the former presidential candidate, however, said that there was a need to rethink cancer control and make treatment accessible to many Nigerians.

Mr. Runcie Chidebe, the Executive Director of PPB and the convener of the webinar, said, “Every day in Nigeria, we hear and see breast cancer survivors, but prostate cancer survivors are rarely seen or heard of.

According to him, based on the above fact, many Nigerians still assume that cancer is a ‘woman’s thing’ and that the challenges of men battling prostate cancer are not always discussed and rarely considered for intervention.

He said that the NGO Men on Blue initiative started in 2017 as a platform to create awareness of prostate cancer among Nigerian men and to advocate better policies for men.

Clare Omatseye, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of JNCI International and Vice President of the African Healthcare Federation, noted that prostate cancer is now the leading cause of cancer deaths in Nigerian men.

“In 2020, 15,306 Nigerian men were diagnosed with prostate cancer, and 8,517 deaths were recorded.

“The risk factors for prostate cancer are first, being a man; second, age; and third, being black. Genetically, there is something about Black people that increases the prostate cancer risk and makes it more aggressive in black men,” he said

Mr. Solomon Rotimi, professor of biochemistry at Covenant University, also identified other risk factors for prostate cancer as smoking, obesity, stress, and having multiple sexual partners.