Cancer Financing is no Longer Optional, It’s an Essential Pillar of Universal Health Coverage

That was the message Nigeria brought to the 79th World Health Assembly in Geneva, where our Director General, Prof. Usman Malami Aliyu, chaired a high-level panel session on Financing Cancer Care alongside Ministers, policymakers, and global health leaders like UICC President elect Dr. Zainab Shinkafi Bagudu.

The panel tackled one of the most urgent questions in global health today: how to sustainably finance cancer prevention, diagnosis, and treatment in an era of shrinking fiscal space and competing priorities.

Nigeria’s leadership highlighted practical pathways already being implemented:

• Financial protection mechanisms for cancer patients
• Expansion of screening services
• Innovative access partnerships
• Nigeria’s HPV vaccination campaign one of the largest HPV vaccine introductions globally, and the largest single-round HPV vaccination campaign in Africa.

A key message from the discussion was clear: cancer financing must no longer be treated as optional, but as an essential pillar of Universal Health Coverage.

The dialogue also reinforced the importance of stronger collaboration across Governments, development partners, and the Commonwealth to drive pooled procurement, technical support, and sustainable financing solutions for low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

Grateful for the leadership, vision, and commitment being demonstrated to advance equitable cancer care globally. How is your country tackling cancer financing? I’d love to hear what’s working.