From Uchenna Inya, Abakaliki Owerri
The National Institute for Cancer Research and Treatment (NICRAT) has commenced a free cervical cancer screening and sensitisation campaign in Ebonyi State, targeting 200 women.
The initiative, being implemented in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare and the National Task Force on Cervical Cancer Elimination, is taking place in six states across the six geopolitical zones of the country.
Speaking during the exercise in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State capital, yesterday, the Commissioner for Health, Moses Ekuma, described cervical cancer as a preventable and treatable disease., if detected early, saying the state was committed to reducing cancer-related deaths among its residents.
He urged women to take advantage of the free screening and pledged the state government’s support for the programme. He called for an increase in the number of beneficiaries from the initial 200 to 2,000 women and directed healthcare workers to educate and encourage eligible women to undergo screening during visits to primary healthcare facilities.
Team leader of the NICRAT NISCAN programme in Ebonyi State, Dr. Ifeyinwa Okeke, said the exercise was the second phase of the initiative, following the first phase in December 2025, which focused on breast cancer screening and awareness.
She explained that the current phase involved training healthcare workers from three primary healthcare centres to conduct HPV DNA tests, the World Health Organisation-approved method for cervical cancer screening, while strengthening data collection, referral systems and integration of cancer prevention services into family planning clinics.
She said the screening is being conducted with the TrueNAT machine provided by NICRAT, while eligible women are registered and assigned unique identification numbers before their samples are collected for laboratory testing. She added that the exercise was a pilot programme and that the awareness campaign would be extended through community mobilisers and the media.
Okeke disclosed that during the first phase, more than 10,000 women were screened for breast cancer through clinical breast examinations, with four women identified with abnormalities and referred to the Alex Ekwueme Federal Teaching Hospital Abakaliki (AE-FETHA) for further evaluation.
Also, Musa Segun Terere, senior scientific officer at NICRAT, who represented the director-general, Professor Usman Malami, said the institute was working to expand access to early cancer detection, screening and coordinated treatment across the country. He explained that the NISCAN initiative, which means National Initiative for Cancer Early Detection, Screening and Coordinated Access to Network Care, was designed to ensure that people who test positive for cancer-related abnormalities are linked to appropriate health facilities for further evaluation and treatment.
Terere added that NICRAT would provide additional equipment, including a thermal ablation machine and a colposcope, to support the management of women identified with precancerous cervical lesions, while those requiring advanced care would be referred to tertiary hospitals.
Some beneficiaries, including Mrs. Ibele Chinanye and Modester Oroke, expressed appreciation to NICRAT and the state government for the free screening but appealed for an extension of the exercise to enable more women to benefit. They also called for wider publicity through radio and television, noting that many women were yet to receive information about the programme.
