Nigerians Face Increased Cancer Risks Due To Peculiar Weather

Many Nigerians may not be aware that they are becoming more prone to certain disease strains, occasioned by particular weather changes.

Climate change is at the driving seat of such major changes, West African Institute of Public Health (WAIPH)

WAIPH Director-General, Dr Francis Ohayindo, told participants at a health seminar yesterday that climate change was increasingly driving both communicable and non-communicable diseases, altering disease patterns and worsening health outcomes.

The threat is felt not only in Nigerian but the wider West African region, he said.

According to him, hotter temperatures increased skin cancer risks, particularly among light-skinned individuals and those who bleached their skin.

Changing climates also allowed mosquitoes and other disease vectors to migrate into new areas within the region, he alerted.

Ohayindo said Nigerians faced rising risks of hypertension, diabetes, and stroke due to lifestyle factors, economic pressures, and limited access to preventive care, compounding the NCD burden nationwide.

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Technology integration, he stated, is one way in which this could be mitigated by providing digital reminders for medication adherence.

“Technology improves literacy around disease conditions, helps people understand their health better”, he said.

It also reduces cancer risks through early interventions, ultimately strengthening preventive healthcare and reducing avoidable complications,  he added.

Contributing to the dialogue, Mr Ademuyiwa Damilola, Director of Programmesof the Legislative Initiative for Sustainable Development (LISDEL), identified digital innovations as being essential to strengthening screening, advocacy, service delivery, and patient tracking in Nigeria for improved NCD outcomes.

Nigeria, he said, needed more political will, coherent policy, and coordinated platforms to improve activities in its healthcare sector.