A Consultant Paediatric haemato-oncologist, Dr Magdalene Odunvbun, has urged parents and guardians to watch out for early signs of cancer in children and seek prompt medical examination and treatment.
Odunvbun, a paediatrician at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, gave the advice on Friday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Benin.
She said “Our greatest challenge in cancer management in children is that by the time they come for treatment, they come very late. The disease has spread to other parts of the body and the percentage of care has become very low, what should have had a 90 per cent rate of cure becomes five percent of cure.
“Parents should not wait for an abnormal growth of cancers in their children’s bodies to grow very big before seeking appropriate care. Parents should also stop using native treatment for tumors, this is because by the time they present to the hospital they have exhausted all their money without a cure.”