November 27, 2024, the Director General of the National Institute for Cancer Research and Treatment (NICRAT), Prof. Usman Malami Aliyu, jointly declared open four different trainings in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

The trainings include cancer immunotherapy, colorectal cancer surgery, train – the – trainer on identification of the signs and symptoms of childhood cancer, and training on critical thinking and research in oncology nursing.

The 4 different trainings which will last for three days drew participants from the six geo-political zones of the country.

Speaking while jointly declaring the trainings open, Prof. Malami reiterated that the four different trainings will add value to the skills and knowledge of healthcare workers, especially those working in the cancer space, for greater productivity.

He, therefore, urged the participants “to take advantage and tap from the reservoir of knowledge and experiences gathered by our resource persons over the years to better our healthcare services.”

Prof. Malami insisted that NICRAT is determined to deliver on its mandate within the shortest possible time.

“To achieve this, we have, therefore, resolved to prioritize training and retraining of healthcare workers, especially those working in cancer related specialties in order to equip them with contemporary cutting – edge knowledge and skills for them to perform optimally by delivering quality diagnosis and care to deserving patients,” he said.

He further disclosed that: “Since its inception in early 2023, NICRAT has initiated various strategies aimed at reducing the burden of all forms of cancers in Nigeria. One of such strategies is organizing training and retraining for healthcare workers on various aspects of cancer care, prevention, treatment and control.

“The most recent being training of healthcare workers at primary and secondary facilities on the early detection and management of chronic Hepatitis B and C and Liver cancer across Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamfara states which ended on two days ago.

“Also, few months ago, NICRAT dispatched experts across to the six geo-political zones to conduct three important trainings. One; is the training of Biomedical Engineers and Medical Physicists, two; training on Psycho Oncology for healthcare workers at the tertiary health care level and three; training on Cervical Cancer Screening and Referral for primary and secondary health care workers. Over 1000 healthcare workers benefited from these trainings across different regions of the country,” Prof. Malami revealed.