Early detection is the key to surviving Cancer —Dr Uwaezuoke

In this piece with Abba – Eku Onyeka, after the recently marked World Cancer Day (WCD) and World Leprosy Day (WLD), in her office in Abuja, the Consultant Microbiologist and Head, Department of Microbiology, Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Abuja, Dr (Mrs) Nkolika Stella Uwaezuoke says early detection is the key to survival from cancer. She also speaks on the newly marked WLD and the ongoing second wave of COVID-19 pandemic. Excerpts:

Last day of January is set aside to mark the World Leprosy Day; is it necessary?

Yes, it is. Leprosy deserves to be marked yearly, because it doesn’t only have stigma attached to it, but it also disfigures those suffering from it. So it demands the attention, and having a day reserved to mark it.When you see a person with Leprosy, you can almost say, “this person probably has leprosy.” There is actually a stigma attached to Leprosy, because it is a disfiguring disease; it is a disease that disfigures those suffering from it, and so makes them vulnerable to be stigmatized. Therefore, it is one illness that causes a lot of stigmatization among the sufferers.

Is it curable?

A good question! Leprosy is an infectious disease and chronic. When we say chronic, we mean something that lasts long, as opposed to acute. Malaria is acute; you have it and treat it and it goes.

Children of most parents, who have it, also suffer from it. Does it run in families, or transferable from parent to children?

That is why I say that it is infectious. Because of the mode of transmission, it can be transmitted to another by droplet. If one person gets it, such person can transmit it to another within the same family, and that is why, it is necessary to monitor those living in the compound with the person that has it.

Is FMC, Abuja capable of curing leprosy?

Due to the fact that it is an infectious disease, the World Health Organisation (WHO) wants to eradicate it. So there is few cases of leprosy. It s a treatable thing. One important thing is to diagnose it; and once that is done, then we treat it.

Due to its danger to humans, what message do you have for the government?

What should be done in that area is enlightenment campaign; enlighten the public, especially in those areas that are known to have a high incidence of this disease. You let the people know that  such disease exists; educate them on its symptoms and signs. So once they develop such symptoms, they can report to the appropriate health facility for treatment, because it is a terrible disease.

What has FMC Abuja been doing to tackle this disease?

In FMC Abuja, if we suspect a patient of having Leprosy, we have dermatologist. We have a skin clinic. A dermatologist is a specialist in skin diseases. So we have a consultant dermatologist here, who specializes in treatment of skin diseases, because one of the ways leptrosy manifests is through the skin, especially at the early stage. So we are able to offer treatment for such patient and at the moment, we have an infection unit too, that can handle such cases. So the problem is, do these patients come to us? If they do, they will have treatment. As a medical personnel, we are capable of managing such patient.

In creating public awareness, if you have symptoms, if you notice it, report to the nearest health facility. It could be a primary health centre, it could be a government hospital.

About 200,000 people have been diagnosed of this disease all over the world, can you speak on FMC’s enlightenment campaign on the disease so far?

In this hospital, what we normally do is general enlightenment campaign, and some times, we do go for outreaches. As I said, leprosy, when compared to tuberculosis, which is another infectious disease, is not common. The incidence is actually dwindling now. So we rarely see poeple with that here. So most of the enlightenment campaign people do, even the government … As I said, one of the ways to tackle the problem is taking the campaign to those areas where Leprosy is high. Most time, it is the public health officials that do that, while we do the treatment aspect here.

World Cancer Day (WCD) is marked every 4th day of February and most people seem not to take it seriously. Does it mean that cancer is not a serious illhealth?

Cancer is a very serious disease or illness and people should take it seriously. We in this FMC, Abuja marked the world cancer day here in Abuja. The doctor that specializes in Cancer management ensured that awareness was created, and a committee that took charge of patients that have Cancer was equally created, because management of Cancer is one of the most disciplinary ones. One doctor doesn’t manage a Cancer patient. Most times, Cancer patients pass through different categories of doctors; different specialities. That is why it is the most multi-disciplinary disease. For instance, if  a woman has a Breast Lump, the woman needs to see a doctor to find out if the Breast Lump is benign or cancerous. Benign one is a simple lump, that if removed, there won’t be problem. But if it is a cancerous one, it will be removed by a general surgeon and taken to a pathologist, who will look at it, using a microscope, to find out, if it is a malign one or cancerous one. If it is a cancerous one, he will determine the kind of Cancer of the breast it is. Then the patient will see the doctor that specializes in Cancer management, who will now start the treatment. So its management is the most multi-disciplinary of managements.

Is Cancer curable?

Yes, some forms of Cancer are curable, especially when detected early. That is why early detection is key to survival from cancer. Detecting the Cancer early, makes a difference. If detected early, there is high chance that, the Cancer will be cured completely and the person will be free from the Cancer. It depends on the stage. We normally categorize Cancers in stages: stages 1, 2.  Different Cancers have different stages, depending on the stage of the person who comes for treatment.

Since there are different forms of Cancer, for the benefit of the readers, can you mention them?

There are different Cancers. You can have a Cancer anywhere. You can have it in the breast, brain, lever, kidney, you can have it anywhere in the body.

What are the symptoms?

The symptoms depend on the kind of Cancer. Let me go back, by using breast Cancer. Most time, people will notice a Lump; initially the Lump will not be painful. So when you notice such Lump, what you should do, is to go for medical advice. When you go to the hospital, you check and find out if it is cancerous or not. The symptoms depend on the kind of Cancer; you can have Cancer in the blood; you can have that of the skin or in the intestine; that of the colon. You can have it anywhere. You can have that of the bone, even that of any of the organs. Anywhere the body decides to have an abnormal growth, that is Cancer. So the important thing is early diagnosis. If you are able to diagnose it, there is high probability that it can be cured.

Let us go to this second wave of Coronavirus. Don’t you think that its awareness and treatment are dominating other illnesses?

The second wave of the COVID – 19 pandemic is all over the world; not only in Nigeria. You know that when the pandemic started, protocols, such as lockdowns, wearing of face masks, washing of hands, social distancing, among others were strictly adhered to and deaths associated with it declined. But after sometime, people started to treat the protocols with disregard and that is why we are having the second wave of the pandemic. So it is in Europe and other places, especially in the UK where there is lockdown now. You will hear some people, saying that it is the government; asking if it is a reality. But those of us in the hospital know that it is a reality and that there is an increase in the cases everyday.

Are you saying that there are no other illnesses that kill, apart from the pandemic?

There are others, but the one of the pandemic continues to increase on daily basis.

Has a cure been found for it?

No cure has been found for it yet, but there are vaccines, that they are using in UK, US which will go a long way to stop transmission and the disease itself.

There is no cure yet, but what of those that are being discharged?

If you are treated and you get negative, then you get discharged.

Which means that, it is curable?

It is a viral disease. There is no specific therapy, to say. So if you treat a patient and test his immune and he or she tests negative, then you discharge him or her.

A state in Nigeria, Kogi insists that they don’t have the disease, can you react to that?

Kogi is a state in Nigeria and they say that they don’t have the disease. I am not there and can’t talk for them. It is the authority…  I don’t know if they have testing facilities to claim that they don’t have it. If you don’t have testing facilities, how then can you say you don’t have the disease? I can’t talk for them.

But there is the belief that the pandemic hardly survives in Nigeria and other African countries, with harsh and hot weather. Can you react to that?

The weather at the moment is hot, and we are experiencing the second wave of the pandemic. That will show you that temperature doesn’t have any role to play, if not we won’t have this second wave.

Having produced hand sanitizers, among others here last year, we think that by now FMC would have come up with a vaccine. What is happening?

It is not something a hospital will just start to do.You need to assemble a technical team, well guided in terms of vaccine production. It takes a lot of resources.

Researchers and practitioners in the area of phythomedicine claim, having been curing and preventing the pandemic and other similar diseases, which their orthodox counterparts couldn’t do. Can you react to that?

It is not enough for you to claim that you have been curing or preventing it. Come with the patient with the pandemic you have cured. We have heard it severally, where people would say that, they have found a cure for HIV/AIDS, among others. Let them come out with the cure, to be checked if they are good for human consumption, as well as conduct trial, like the way it is done properly.

What advice do you have for Nigerians, as it affects the COVID – 19 pandemic, Leprosy, Cancer, among others?

If you have any of these diseases, don’t treat yourself. Go to a health facility for proper management, because these are the diseases you can’t manage by yourself. They can cause a lot of problems. They can disfigure you, and cause so much damages in your body. These are not diseases you play or toy with. They have to be managed in a health facility under the supervision of the right doctor.