FG, China Sign MoU to Advance Cancer Research, Technology Transfer, Capacity Building

The Nigerian and Chinese governments have signed a three-year renewable Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to advance cancer research, technology transfer, human capacity development and sustainable cancer care.

The two countries signed the MoU at the Link Global Summit on Innovation and Practice in Oncology, in Beijing-China.

The Director General of the National Institute of Cancer Research and Treatment (NICRAT), Prof. Usman Malami Aliyu, signed the MoU on behalf of the Federal Government of Nigeria.

The MoU focuses on radiotherapy technical support, joint research and development, structured China-Nigeria academic exchange and helping Nigeria establish professional bodies that will govern radiotherapy practice.

The Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr Iziaq Adekunle Salako, led the Nigerian delegation to the summit.

At the center of the partnership is Nigeria’s ambition to locally assemble, service and produce radiotherapy and imaging equipment by 2030.

The initiative will be supported by technology transfer and industrial collaboration, alongside government incentives, including zero-duty and zero-VAT provisions, to encourage local medical technology manufacturing.

The partnership also aim at establishing a clinical training and service hub in Nigeria as a West African centre for oncology training, providing opportunities for Nigerian oncologists, medical physicists, radiotherapy technologists and biomedical engineers to undertake specialized training and fellowships in China.

The initiative further complement plans by the federal government to deploy 35 additional linear accelerators to different parts of the country between 2026 and 2028.

These efforts, according to the Director General of NICRAT, Prof. Malami, will strengthen access to quality cancer care in alignment with the health component of the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, which is being supervised by the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate and the Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr Iziaq Adekunle Salako.