By Sherifat Oyediran, Lagos.
Healthcare professionals in Oncology have been changed to treat patients with cancer the way they would like to be treated if they are found in such a situation.
Chief Medical Director at Lagos University Teaching Hospital, LUTH, Professor Wasiu Lanre Adeyemo stated this at the opening of a 3-day capacity building on Psycho-Oncology for cancer experts drawn from specialists and Teaching Hospitals across the South West in Lagos.
The capacity-building programme was organized by the National Institute for Cancer Research and Treatment, (NICRAT).
Professor Adeyemo explained that the Federal Government under the leadership of President Bola Tinubu has given the Ministry of Health a mandate to take the issues of cancer diagnosis more seriously in other to reduce death rates due to cancer problems in the country.
According to him, five years ago cancer center was established at Lagos University more like a partnership between LUTH and Minister Aid.” we have attended to more than twelve thousand patients”.
CMD said “Cancer is no respect of any age, there are cancer In children and some of the cancers occur at a later age, so the diagnosis of cancer and the breaking of the news all over the world is very challenging.
“As we are developing capacity in diagnosis we must also develop capacity in breaking bad news”.
He said it is very important to give cancer healthcare professionals in oncology pace the necessary knowledge to be able to break bad news.
While delivering a presentation on breaking bad news, Radiation and Psycho-Oncologist Lead Team NICRAT, Dr. Foluke Sarimiye explained that the Psycho-Oncology workshop which focused on breaking bad news, is going on in the six geo-political zones of the country.
Dr Sarimiye said the program is important because of the need for health care professionals particularly the oncologists to develop clinical emphatic skills in knowing how to navigate emotions the patients are going through when they are diagnosed with cancer.
She said “Psycho-oncology is a sub-specialist that deals with psycho socio issues bordering on cancer diagnosis, how it affects the healthcare professionals that is, the oncologists and everyone working on oncology pace.
The Doctor who pointed out that the diagnosis of cancer globally and nationally is very huge said that different strides have been taken by the Ministry of Health to make sure that the burden of cancer is reduced in the country.
“The feedback we expect after this training is that some oncologists healthcare professionals will be properly equipped with clinical and emphatic communication skills to navigate the emotions that cancer patients present”. Dr Sarimiye
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