With 80,000 Nigerians dying from cancer every year, some concerned Nigerians have concluded plans to establish a comprehensive cancer care centre to be known as the Port Harcourt Cancer Comprehensive Care Centre (PHCC) in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

Briefing journalists in Lagos, the Technical Coordinator of the PHCC Project, Dr. Kin J-Egwuonwu said the centre to be situated on a 50 hectares of land close to the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH) will cost N10 billion.

Accordingly, Egwuonwu who is also the national coordinator of the National Cancer Prevention Programme (NCPP) of the Mass Medical Mission (MMM), explained that the first phase will be completed within one year and would be launched on March 3, 2013 at a Presidential Banquet, while it plans to admit the first set of cancer patients in February, next year, he said.

“The centre will be developed in five phases with each phase costing about N2 billion. The five phases could be established concurrently given the availability of funds”.

Egwuonwu lamented that annually, an estimated 100,000 Nigerians are diagnosed with cancer and 80,000 die from the disease. He said that the chief promoter of the initiative is the respected philanthropist, High Chief (Dr.) Lulu-Briggs and his wife, Chief (Mrs) Seinye Lulu-Briggs.