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| L-R: Dr Abasi Ene-Obong, Founder and CEO of Stack Diagnosis; Francis Osifo, CTO and Gatumi Aliyu, Head of Partnerships during the flag-off of the first Nigerian molecular diagnostics and online personalised test ordering portal tagged, DiagnoseMe Africa in Lagos, recently. |
Chioma Umeha Research shows that deadly molecular
and genetic diseases could be prevented if people do frequent visit labs for
tests instead of waiting for symptomatic evidences of the ailments.
Some of the diseases include, Hepatitis B and C,
ovarian cancer, liver cancer, prostate cancer, Human Papiloma Virus, breast
cancer, cervical cancer, endometrial cancer, Down syndrome, Patau syndrome,
Edwards syndrome and Sickle Cell Anaemia.
Over 20 million Nigerians today suffer needlessly
from Hepatitis B, 10 million Nigerians are estimated to have Hepatitis C, while
Nigeria contributes two per cent to the global burden of Hepatitis, a
scientific journal revealed.
Experts say that most of the current population of
hepatitis cases in Nigeria will graduate to liver sclerosis, liver cancer or
any of the liver diseases as Hepatitis is the leading cause of liver disease.
Unfortunately, studies reveal that both variants of
Hepatitis do not manifest any signs or symptoms until after 20 years of
carrying the disease.
Confirming this, Dr Abasi Ene- Obong, the Founder
and CEO of Stack Diagnosis, says, “So, people might actually be infected with
Hepatitis but they might not know until 20 years down the line when they
develop liver sclerosis or liver cancer or liver disease.”
Speaking during the flag-off of the first Nigerian
molecular diagnostics and online personalised test ordering portal tagged,
DiagnoseMe Africa in Lagos, Dr Ene-Obong laments that Nigeria is lagging behind
in management of molecular and genetic diseases.
He explains that while liver transplant is a
common medical exercise in most countries of the world and Nigeria lagging
behind in the practice.
Late diagnosis of hepatitis coupled with poor
medical facility for liver transplant exponentially double the cases of liver
failure and death in the Nigeria, though hepatitis remains a preventable
disease, he adds.
Bemoaning the high incidence of Human Papiloma
Virus (HPV) in Nigeria, Dr. Ene-Obong notes that the deadly disease is
preventable.
He also clarifies that HPV leads to cervical
cancer, which is among the top three deadly cancers in the country though not
in all cases.
If women between 20 and 65 years old undergo
routine tests for HPV every three years, Ene- Obong discloses that they will
completely eliminate chances of contracting the virus and by extension coming
down with cervical cancer.
But he explains, “In Nigeria, one of the reasons
we have issues of people dying of cancer is simply because we do not detect
these diseases early.
“And because we cannot detect the diseases early
we cannot take the steps to do something about them. This is why our people die
of so many preventable diseases,” he laments.
On international practices in precision medicine,
Dr Nchiewe Ani, a medical advisor says that the “hindsight of the genetic
makeup of a patient can help to eliminate 50/50 errors in patient management,
ultimately ensures high success rate in cases such as breast cancer, prostate
cancer, colon cancer, autoimmune and hormonal diseases.
“It also helps to eliminate issues of drug
resistance especially with oncology drugs.
“It is as simple as analysing your saliva and we
can tell you what cancer your gene carries or does not carry.”
According to Ene-Obong, the over 300 specialist
tests including hereditary cancers, non-invasive prenatal test, paternity, gene
mutation detection, hepatitis B and C viral load, water, will not only help
doctors and patients nip preventable diseases in the bud, but also overcome the
structural challenges in the country’s health sector.
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