The Federal Government has launched a renewed nationwide push to address long-standing gaps in Nigeria’s cancer data system, signalling a decisive move to strengthen cancer registries as part of a broader effort to improve planning, policy and patient outcomes.
At the centre of the intervention is a capacity-building programme led by the National Institute for Cancer Research and Treatment (NICRAT) in partnership with the African Cancer Registry Network (AFCRN), which recently trained 24 cancer registrars and data managers drawn from the 19 northern states.
The training, held in Bauchi State, forms part of a coordinated national strategy to upgrade cancer surveillance infrastructure across the country.
Health authorities say weak, incomplete and inconsistent cancer data has for years limited Nigeria’s ability to accurately measure disease burden, allocate resources effectively and align with global cancer control standards. With cancer incidence on the rise, officials argue that fixing these data gaps has become an urgent public health priority.
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The Bauchi programme brought together cancer registrars, coders and data managers from across Northern Nigeria, focusing on practical skills required to improve the quality, accuracy and completeness of cancer records. Sessions covered standardised registration procedures, coding, staging, data abstraction and management, in line with both national and international best practices.
Declaring the training open, NICRAT’s Director General, Prof. Usman Aliyu, said the initiative was deliberately designed to tackle critical weaknesses in cancer data generation and reporting, particularly in underserved regions.
Represented by the Head of the Nigerian Cancer Registry, Prof. Sani Malami, Aliyu noted that reliable data remains the backbone of effective cancer prevention, early detection, treatment planning and policy intervention. He urged participants to fully utilise the training to sharpen their technical competence and contribute meaningfully to strengthening Nigeria’s cancer surveillance system.
According to him, the Bauchi exercise builds on similar programmes previously conducted in other geopolitical zones, reflecting a nationwide approach rather than a regional intervention. He disclosed that NICRAT has so far trained more than 1,600 medical and health professionals across the six geopolitical zones in various aspects of cancer care, underscoring sustained federal investment in human capacity development.
From the international perspective, the Coordinator of the AFCRN, Prof. Max Parkin of Oxford, United Kingdom, stressed that improving data quality is essential for Nigeria’s cancer burden to be accurately reflected in global publications and international research.
Parkin commended NICRAT for deepening collaboration with AFCRN and encouraged cancer registrars nationwide to pursue continuous learning, including participation in the Global Initiative for Cancer Registry Development (GICR) e-learning courses, to further strengthen their professional capacity.
Also speaking, the Acting Director of Cancer Surveillance and Monitoring at NICRAT, Dr Joy Iya Benson, described the training as a targeted response to the growing public health challenge posed by cancer in Nigeria. She said robust population-based cancer registries are critical to effective surveillance and control.
She explained that the programme was structured to enhance participants’ proficiency in data abstraction, coding, staging, analysis and the use of specialised software, as well as survival analysis, all aimed at producing high-quality, timely and complete cancer records.
Stakeholders say the initiative reflects renewed urgency by health authorities to overhaul cancer data systems, particularly in regions where under-reporting has persisted, as Nigeria positions itself to meet global benchmarks in cancer surveillance and response
