The main aim of hosting the two days Southern Nigeria Regional Training Workshop for Registrars of Cancer designated Centers, Data Managers and Coders on cancer Registration diseases in Nigeria is to ensure that they obtain quality database or Quality information abstraction for effective management and analysis control to realize a Central Data quality for the country.

This information was revealed in Calabar to media practitioners by the organizers of the two days workshop in Southern region of Nigeria comprising Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Imo, Ebonyi, Ondo, Lagos,Rivers, Edo, and Bayelsa States have participated for this level of training to build capacity of Registrars on early detection, prevention and data abstraction process for cancer patients across the Centers led by Dr. Joy Iya Benson, of the National Institute for Cancer Research And Treatment (NICRAT) who is also the Head of Cancer Directorate And Monitoring Survillaince, Abuja operating as an agency under the supervision of the Federal Ministry of Health and was established in 2017 through the NICRAT ACT but it became operational in 2021.

This training is designed to strengthen the capacity of Registrars who are young and old Officers on early cancer detection and proper processes of information abstraction to meeting the global best practices and standard. It is obvious that in the past, some of the information or cancer Data lacks completeness, findynes, validity and comparability. This standard can be used comparable as a standard for global Quality and for National planning without doubt.

Dr. Benson further explained that this training had started from Northern Nigeria and now is the turn of the Registrars in the entire Southern region for Data abstraction process.

Also speaking to the participants through an audio visual is Professor Ima-Obong Ekanem, Director, Calabar Cancer Registry revealed that “Cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide, more than 70 percent of all cancer deaths occurring in low and middle income countries (LMC)”.

She also claims that, “the global cancer epidemic is set to raise the numbers of lives lost to cancer to 1.5 million per year but this could be reduced if decisive measures are taken to achieve the world Health Organization’s “25 by25 target” to reduce premature deaths due to non-communicable diseases (NCDs) by 25 percent by 2026.

She claims that, for instance, ” in Nigeria, from the GLOBOCAN 2022 report indicated that 37.5 percent of males had cancer of the males genitals organs ( Prostate) while amongst females is 40.5 percent had female genitals cancer ( cervix uteri and ovary). It also on record that Calabar cancer Registry is one of the registries that contributed to this GLOBOCAN project. The alarming rate of cancer in this region highlights the need for a concerted individuals, local, regional and national commitments to help drive advancements in policy and encourage the implementation of a comprehensive National Cancer control plan of action for Nigeria”.

End.