The Kano State Comprehensive Cancer Treatment Center, a N5 Billion project designed to treat over 100 Patients per day is billed to be Commissioned by December 2021.
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Mr Mario Stella, Programme Manager, TEAM Nigeria Company Limited, a consulting firm for BICO Nigeria Limited, an Engineering coy contracted for the project, said the Center if completed will be the biggest in the Country owned by a State Government.
The project was conceived by Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, during a trip to Melbourne, Australia early 2020 and vowed to execute same in Kano, to reduce the scourging increases in Cancer Cases in Kano and great beyond.
Governor Ganduje who signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with some companies which led to the commencement of the project early this year, insisted that the project was concieved to overcomes the prevalence of Cancer Cases in Nigeria.
Mr. Mario hinted that from the onset Governor Handuje mandated them to have an internationally recognized Cancer Treatment Center, adding that already the ground Bunker of the project has been completed waiting for Nuclear Regulatory Agency to satisfy it.
“we have the ground Bunker of the Cancer Center Ready, we are only waiting for the Nigeria Nuclear Regulatory Agency to satisfy it,” he said.
Mario Stella added that the project had been stalled due to the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic in the state, coupled with alterations on its initial plans, which includes creating third floor and some additional compartments.
He disclosed that the project initially was planned to gulp N2.3 billion, but had now reached over N5 billion due to the addition of the third floor, a bridge and other compartments in the project.
The Engineer of the Biko Contracting Firm, Kabir Usman noted that the two Energy Radiation Bunkers were specially designed Emmit’s Radiation to the Patients without unecessarly wasting it’s to general Public.
Engr. Kabir said the project is now at 50 percent completion stage after it had been redesigned, adding that it would have been at 80% completion stage before it was reviewed.
Explaining the project to the newsmen, the Executive Secretary, Kano State Health Trust Fund, Dr Nura Idris said the center would be equipped with three radio therapy machines to be installed in bunkers.
According to him, the machines, which include Halcyon, True Beam and Brachy are used to treat all kind of cancer in human body.
He explained that the Halcyon and True Beam, which are external beam radio therapy machines, are used to kill the cells of the tumor, making it flatten gradually.
“The Brachy is used to emit its radiation internally without beam to treat cancer by killing the cells of the tumor internally,” he said
He said the cancer center is the only one owned by a state government in Nigeria, as the only three cancer treatment centres in the country are owned by the Federal Government.
