US specialist trains 34 Nigerian nurses in cancer treatment

A nurse with the Sarah Cannon Research Institute Texas, USA, Laurie Tauriainen, is currently conducting a week-long training program for 34 nurses at the National Hospital in Abuja in the area of cancer healthcare provision.
The training in patient navigation, which commenced Tuesday, is being organized in collaboration with Project Pink Blue, a non-profit organization led by Runcie Chidebe, a Nigerian alumnus of the US department of state’s International Visitors Leadership Program (IVLP).
Project Pink Blue provides free cancer screenings and targeted outreach to poor, rural communities.
Tauriainen’s participation is made possible through the US state department’s Fulbright specialist program, which awards grants to US academics and professionals to engage in short-term collaborative projects in over 140 countries.
The patient navigators training in Abuja is part of the US embassy’s support for strengthening health systems in Nigeria, and participants in the current training programme are from the Federal Capital Territory, as well as from Kebbi and Enugu States.
Chief medical director of the National Hospital J.A.F. Momoh, and the US embassy’s cultural affairs officer, Larry Socha, participated in the opening ceremony.
Patient navigators are trained to work with patients, families, and physicians to ensure cancer patients’ needs are appropriately and effectively addressed.
By helping patients and their families to communicate with elements of the health care system, the navigators aim to assist healthcare providers diagnose and effectively treat cancer in its early stages.
“The hospital is proud to host the training. We have very good systems and facilities for early diagnosis and treatment monitoring. However, this is not enough without someone to navigate, as for me, this is the missing link,” said Momoh.
In his remarks, Socha said that “disease cuts across society, no matter who you are, no matter how rich or famous, no matter your race or religion, and health challenges, including cancer, touch individuals and families across the spectrum.”
He recalled that President Barack Obama set an ambitious goal in his last State of the Union address earlier this year, when he said that “let’s cure cancer once and for all.”
Socha further noted that, similar to the US space program of the Kennedy era 50 years before, scientists and researchers are still working to achieve this goal of conquering and defeating cancer.