•Cancer doesn’t just hurt, it bankrupts families — Survivors
•I wanted to go to school, cancer had other plans — Ariema Ogbewe
•Treatment cost sometimes kills families before the cancer — Justina Celestine, caregiver
•Early detection saves lives, yet most people see it too late — Dr. Nneka Nwobbi, Founder, Children Living With Cancer Foundation
Cancer rarely announces itself loudly in Nigeria. It creeps in quietly as a night pain, a small lump, a fever that refuses to go away. By the time its name is spoken, families are already standing at the edge of financial and emotional ruin, Vanguard reports.
Anytime Mrs. Justina Celestine remembers when her daughter, Juliet, first complained of pain, it no longer sounds like the beginning of a medical journey, it sounds like the beginning of loss.
“She would complain of leg pain at night, she wouldn’t sleep, then she started limping. At first, I thought it was just one of those children’s pains,” Justina recalled.
“That was in 2023. We sold everything, borrowed from family, still it’s not enough. After an unsatisfactory visit to a private hospital, Juliet was referred to University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital, UPTH. An initial biopsy suggested no cancer, this was a brief relief, but the pain persisted.
“We were happy, we thought it was over,” Justina told Vanguard health team, but it wasn’t. Months later, another biopsy raised doubts. Scans offered no clear answers. A repeat referral in January 2024 led them to Lagos, where MRI and CT scans finally confirmed cancer at the Orthopaedic Hospital, Igbobi.
“It was cancer,” her mother said quietly. That single word landed like a death sentence to Justina and her family.
Juliet’s family was then referred to NSIA-LUTH Cancer Centre for radiotherapy, with combined radiotherapy and chemotherapy costs reaching nearly N2 million. “We paid N1.9 million for the initial sessions, but we were still buying most drugs ourselves. This does not include tests and x-rays.”
They were not from Lagos. Radiotherapy was daily. Transport, feeding, accommodation, and hospital consumables came entirely out of pocket. Public holidays stretched treatment from five weeks to almost seven, ballooning the cost.
These fees added further strain—guest house costs alone were ¦ 18,500 per night. The family spent close to ¦ 10 million in total. Sadly, Juliet is still undergoing treatment.
“We sold some valuables, I had to stop working, and my husband’s income isn’t steady. We have other children we left behind. This has drained us financially and emotionally,” she added. Despite the hardships, Juliet’s condition shows improvement. “Her leg swelling is decreasing. She is responding to chemotherapy. But the cost is relentless every session, every drug.”
According to Juliet’s mother, the first round alone cost nearly N2 million—five cycles of chemotherapy and 25 sessions of radiotherapy. Doctors later raised the possibility of amputation.
“It broke me. How will she cope? How will my child live?” she asked. Her husband’s contract jobs were irregular. Within weeks, nearly ¦ 10 million was gone. Today, Juliet is still on chemotherapy, 170 tablets, each costing between N3,000 and N5,000.
“That is one tablet,” her mother said. “And the doctor said you must not miss it.”
Juliet’s story is not unusual. Across Nigeria, cancer is quietly bankrupting families.
Health experts estimate that more than 70 percent of cancer care in the country is paid for out of pocket, pushing households into debt, asset sales, and job loss.
Seeking alternative remedy
Another family member, Mrs. Elizabeth Egejimba, knows this reality intimately. Her son’s illness began with night fever and a lump on his neck. Like many Nigerian families, they first turned to traditional remedies.
“One week passed, then two weeks passed, he could no longer stand to bathe. At the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, LUTH, after weeks of tests, the diagnosis came: Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
“When the doctor asked me if I knew what cancer was, I said cancer is for rich people and adults,” Elizabeth said. But she was wrong. Chemotherapy followed, the Christmas period was spent in hospital, twice. She lost her job, the family spent millions excluding tests outside the hospital.
“Since September, I have personally seen over 40 children die here, children I know by name,” Elizabeth recalled.
Her son survived for the time being, but the Positron Emission Tomography, PET, scan needed to confirm remission remains unaffordable.
“Every test seemed to come back negative. It took another three weeks before the biopsy confirmed cancer.”
Treatment was long and expensive chemotherapy drugs, admission fees, and specialised tests quickly added up. Some tests could only be done outside the hospital, costing N500,000 to N600,000.
“Each stage of chemotherapy averaged N350,000 plus drugs and scans we had to buy ourselves. We haven’t even been able to do the PET scan to confirm he’s cancer-free because we can’t afford it.
“I also want to tell you that cancer management is beyond money. I lost my job, my husband runs a small business. We have three children, leaving the other two behind for almost a year to care for our sick son has been incredibly hard.”
Elizabeth confirmed that she has seen progress. “The lumps are shrinking; his colour is returning, but the anxiety never stops. Cancer is everywhere, not just in adults.”
She admonished other parents to seek care early: “When you see changes in your child or loved one, take them to the hospital immediately. Don’t try massaging or do guesswork. Early detection is key.”
I thought it was nothing; then it changed my life
For Ariema Ogbewe, cancer did not only take her health. It took time she can never recover.
“I woke up one morning in my hostel and felt a tiny lump on the right side of my neck,” said the 18-year-old, recalling how her ordeal began in March 2020 while she was in SSS2.
“I didn’t tell anyone. It was a little painful, but I kept living my normal life.”
But at 18, she has lived with nasopharyngeal carcinoma for nearly five years. What began as a small lump during secondary school slowly derailed her education. The emotional toll has also been staggering.
“I compare myself with my mates. They are in 300 level in the university while I am just starting all over. My studies at the University of Ibadan were deferred. Cancer didn’t just hurt my body; it hurt our family.”
Chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and surgery followed, each leaving its mark.
“Sometimes the pain is unbearable, especially when they give you high doses of cisplatin. You need so much energy. Sometimes it feels unbearable. After 130 milligrams of cisplatin, I couldn’t eat. The surgery was painful, and I couldn’t breathe well, I just had to manage,” she said.
Her family has spent close to ¦ 10 million too. Her mother stopped working. Her father carried the burden in silence.
“Cancer is not always the main problem. The money is,” Ariema said.
After inconclusive tests and referrals, Ariema ended up at University College Hospital, UCH, Ibadan. Initially, she focused on school and exams, dismissing early warning signs. But as the lump grew and she began bleeding from her nose, reality hit.
“I was finally diagnosed with nasopharyngeal carcinoma. At first, I wasn’t scared. But when the swelling worsened and the pain became intense, that’s when I started getting scared.”
Treatment began immediately. Chemotherapy sessions cost about ¦ 50,000 each, often requiring 5–7 days of hospital admission. After multiple cycles, Ariema’s family has spent nearly ¦ 10 million.
Experts speak: Early diagnosis is key, but Nigeria’s cancer fight faces huge challenges
In a chat with Vanguard, Founder of Children Living with Cancer Foundation, CLWF, Dr. Nneka Nwobbi explained the staggering human toll.
“The most common childhood cancers we see regularly are osteosarcoma, the leukemias, lymphomas and Wilms tumour. But patients are still presenting very late. By the time they arrive at treatment centres, the disease is often advanced, and the window for a full cure may have narrowed,” Nwobi told Vanguard.
Access to quality cancer care in Nigeria is patchy at best.
“Outside the major cities, it’s not fantastic. Families face long journeys, high accommodation costs, and limited treatment options. Even basic investigations can run into millions of naira. Many families simply cannot afford it. A family on minimum wage certainly cannot manage this,” she added.
Fear, stigma and misinformation worsen delays
“Quite often, parents may not believe that cancer can be cured. Some are frightened by side effects, financial burden, or societal stigma. Traditional healers and self-medication are frequently the first point of care, which delays diagnosis and allows the disease to progress.”
The impact on families
“Caregivers often lose their jobs. They have to manage blood transfusions, transportation, accommodation and the mental health of the child and entire family. Some families are forced to juggle life at the hospital with their home responsibilities, often breaking homes apart. The emotional, social and economic toll is unimaginable.”
Even when children reach treatment centres, gaps remain. “The most critical needs are financial support, psychosocial care, and accommodation for families travelling for treatment. Without these, even children with curable cancers are unable to complete treatment,” Nwobi said.
She warned of widespread misconceptions: “Many people still believe that cancer in children is always fatal. Fear of death, infertility, or hospital procedures delays treatment, while stigma leads some families to hide the child. Early recognition and referral could save countless lives, but many primary healthcare workers aren’t trained to spot the early warning signs.”
Nigeria’s cancer fight is facing massive challenges — Prof. Edamisan Temiye
Speaking with Vanguard, Professor Edamisan Temiye, a pediatric haematologist and oncologist at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, LUTH, highlighted the systemic challenges.
“Well, I think people don’t understand what cancer is and most times, it is misdiagnosed in many cases. By the time you realise it is cancer, it has spread. A lot of people believe that whatever happens to you – headache, pain, fever – it must be malaria. And malaria is being over-diagnosed, over-treated, with a lot of terrible consequences. I was made to understand that in Lagos now, only about 5–10 percent of fever is due to malaria.”
Temiye said misdiagnosis leads to devastating delays.
“The fevers are due to something else, but people still over-diagnose malaria and leave cancer, and people don’t want to hear it.”
Continuing, he said stigma also remains a barrier. “Cancer, there’s a lot of stigma attached to this, just like it’s attached to HIV. Because of that, people want to hide. Sometimes when you tell people it could be cancer, they reject it in the name of whoever they are worshipping. So that is one of the problems I face.”
Temiye stressed the difference early detection can make. “The painful thing is that when cancer is diagnosed early, the cure rate is very high. For example, in children, up to 90 per cent of children with cancer in developed countries will be cured. Even in adults, a lot of cancers, when diagnosed early, are cured. Some cancer cases of 80 per cent are cured. But in Nigeria, when you mention that this is cancer, this could be cancer, at that time there is no pain, the place is just swollen. It’s not giving anything to the person. They don’t look at the person. They say you are crazy, and walk away.”
He criticised unproven treatments and misinformation.
“People read about if you drink some fruits, cancer will just melt and disappear. So, people today are selling stem cells in a bottle claiming that they can cure everything in the world. The people know this and believe in it.”
Common cancers in Nigeria
Temiye outlined the most prevalent cancers: “The commonest one in adults, we know, are breast cancer and prostate cancer. Breast cancer for women, prostate cancer for men. We have, usually, cancer of the womb, bone cancers; liver cancer is also fairly common because of the rate of infection with Hepatitis B and C.”
In children, he said, blood cancers dominate. “Mainly leukemias, lymphoma, eye cancer we call retinoblastoma, and kidney cancer we call nephroblastoma. By the time we have this, almost more than half of all cancers in children, more than 60 percent, is already covered. For adults, the majority of cancers are covered.”
Temiye warned that cancer treatment can bankrupt families. “Anywhere in the world, out-of-pocket treatment of cancer is not affordable. Unfortunately for us in Nigeria, it is out-of-pocket treatment that we have. Even to diagnose cancer, the investigation is very expensive. Sometimes the drug you use to treat some cancers for six months costs less than the cost of one test. For example, a PET scan is about N1.5 million. You will be required to do the test at the beginning, sometimes at the end, then three months later, then one year to see whether you are cured. That’s N4.5 million for tests, not treatment.”
He added: “Cancer treatment always pushes most families (99 percent) into poverty by the time you treat one person for cancer in that family.”
Shortage of specialists and facilities
Temiye decried the lack of personnel and equipment.
“We don’t have enough doctors anymore. My fear is that after my retirement, I’ll be called back to sleep in the hospital because we are not even seeing people to train. Nigeria’s health system is empty.”
He also criticised the lack of radiotherapy centres. “Look, in Lagos, apart from LUTH, I think there is a private hospital in Victoria Island that has a radiotherapy unit. The whole of Ogun State, the whole of Oyo State doesn’t have a radiotherapy unit. In Ibadan, I don’t know how good the radiotherapy unit in the UCH is today. Then you have to go to Abuja, Enugu, or Port Harcourt for radiotherapy. The few oncologists on the ground are overworked. It is very difficult.”
“We don’t know the burden because we don’t have baseline data. As more people get enlightened, we see more people presenting at hospitals. Is it an increase due to number or due to awareness? We don’t know. Awareness is increasing, people are starting to understand that cancer exists and that it cannot be from malaria or a village curse.”
He emphasised the importance of early intervention. “Come early. When you come early, the chance of cure is higher, and the amount we are going to spend eventually is less than when you come late.”
Temiye called for government and private sector intervention. “Our health insurance system should be overhauled. Non-communicable diseases, especially cancer, should be financed. Every state, especially Lagos, should have multiple radiotherapy units. NGOs should support patients actively. And Nigerians should donate blood and support families during treatment.
”If those in government think they can escape, I’m sorry, they won’t, but if we invest in awareness, early diagnosis, treatment centres, and health insurance, Nigeria can fight cancer effectively. We have survivors, with the right systems, we can save lives.”
Fear is killing more Nigerians than cancer — Dr. Omolola Salako
While Prof. Temiye detailed the medical and systemic hurdles, Dr. Omolola Salako warned that fear and misinformation are compounding the crisis, often proving deadlier than the disease itself.
Salako, whose 20-year career spans from founding Sebeccly Cancer Care, launching Oncopadi Digital Health, and opening Pearl Oncology Specialist Hospital, laments that in a country of over 200 million people, Nigeria has just 100 clinical oncologists trained to diagnose and treat cancer.
She notes that fear, ignorance, and systemic failure are driving a preventable crisis in the country.
“In their eyes, I often witness the ‘Fear of the Unknown’ locked in a crushing battle with ‘Why me?’ This fear drives catastrophic decisions. Patients abandon evidence-based medical treatment for ‘alternatives’ that offer false hope. They visit multiple hospitals without starting proper treatment. Fear is paralysing Nigerians far more than cancer itself.”
Salako described how myths and spiritual narratives compound the crisis. “In some instances, patients believe cancer is a spiritual attack from ‘village people’ or enemies. Cancer is the toughest battle a human can face, and fear is a natural response – but fear should not dictate treatment. That’s why I wrote ‘The Gifts of Survivorship: You Are Bigger Than Cancer’. A diagnosis is just a few chapters of your life; it is not the entire book.”
The Big 5 cancers and the gender divide
Salako outlined the cancers dominating Nigerian clinics: “In 2022 alone, over 127,000 Nigerians were diagnosed. The ‘Big Five’ cancers are breast, prostate, cervical, colorectal, and Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Women account for over 60 percent of cases and suffer higher death rates. Cancer does not discriminate, but our vulnerabilities are shaped by environment, lifestyle, and access to care.”
She highlighted environmental and lifestyle contributors. “Those living in areas like the Niger Delta breathe carcinogens daily from black soot. Obesity is a leading risk factor, Westernised diets, processed sugars, and low physical activity are also fueling breast and prostate cancers.”
“About 40 percent of cancers are preventable. Liver cancer is rising because Nigeria is hyper-endemic for Hepatitis B and C. Cervical cancer is caused almost entirely by HPV infection—something that vaccination and screening could stop. It is heartbreaking because these deaths should not happen. Every woman of reproductive age should get annual checkups, and for girls, the HPV vaccine from age nine.”
“Cancer isn’t an individual diagnosis—it’s a family crisis. Families dictate the patient’s survival. Too many are under-informed and overwhelmed. Many patients abandon treatment because it is prohibitively expensive. Without robust National Health Insurance, most Nigerians pay out-of-pocket. This financial strain drives poor outcomes, not just the disease itself.”
She stressed the role of early detection: “Screening and awareness are saving lives. While more Nigerians are getting screened, which raises reported case numbers, it is also catching cancers early before they become fatal. The problem is we are still fighting a war against late-stage diagnoses that should not be happening in 2026.”
Salako urged Nigerians to act. “Cancer may be part of your story, but it doesn’t define it. Do not let fear write your ending. Vaccinate. Screen. Seek treatment early. Support your loved ones, and if you’re overwhelmed, resources like my book ‘The Gifts of Survivorship: You Are Bigger Than Cancer’ offer guidance to reclaim calm and purpose.”
Knowledge, early detection, and support are best, Salako emphasised.