The University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH) has announced that its specialized cancer centre is now 100% operational, positioning the facility as a primary hub for oncology services in Nigeria’s South-South region.
The Chief Medical Director (CMD) of the institution stated that the centre is now fully equipped and staffed to handle complex cancer cases, which he described as making it one of the best facilities of its kind in Nigeria.
The development follows a period of gradual equipment installation and staff training aimed at ensuring the facility meets international standards for cancer diagnosis and treatment.
The centre is designed to provide a comprehensive range of services, including radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and surgical oncology. By consolidating these services in one location, the hospital aims to reduce the time between diagnosis and the commencement of treatment, a critical factor in improving patient survival rates.
The CMD indicated that the full operational status of the centre will significantly reduce the burden on other tertiary health institutions in Nigeria, particularly those in Lagos and Abuja, which have historically absorbed the majority of the country’s oncology patients.
The operationalisation of the centre comes at a time when cancer incidence is rising across Sub-Saharan Africa. According to the World Health Organization, the lack of accessible radiotherapy and diagnostic imaging has long been a bottleneck in managing the disease across the continent.
Reducing Capital Flight Through Local Specialist Care
The full activation of the UBTH Cancer Centre has direct implications for Nigeria’s struggle with medical tourism. For decades, thousands of Nigerian patients have travelled to India, Turkey, and the United Kingdom for cancer treatment due to a lack of functional radiotherapy machines and specialist care at home.
This trend represents a significant drain on foreign exchange reserves. By providing high-end care locally, the UBTH facility is expected to help retain capital within the Nigerian healthcare economy while reducing the financial burden on families who previously had to fund overseas travel.
The facility’s capacity is expected to serve not only Edo State but also neighbouring states in the South-South and South-East geopolitical zones. This regional reach will likely increase the hospital’s internal revenue through service fees and insurance reimbursements, contributing to the sustainability of the centre’s maintenance.
The Federal Ministry of Health has previously identified the upgrade of teaching hospitals as a priority to achieve universal health coverage. The UBTH project aligns with the government’s strategy to decentralise specialist care and ensure that tertiary health services are accessible beyond the major metropolitan hubs.
Investment in oncology infrastructure also creates a demand for highly specialised manpower. The centre’s full operation requires a multidisciplinary team of radiation oncologists, medical physicists, and oncology nurses, many of whom are trained through partnerships with international institutions.
Despite these advancements, the sustainability of such centres in Nigeria often depends on the consistent supply of electricity and the timely maintenance of sensitive medical equipment. The management of UBTH has noted the importance of maintaining these systems to prevent the downtime that has affected similar projects in other state-run hospitals.
The next phase for the centre involves expanding its screening and early detection programmes to capture cancer cases at treatable stages. The hospital is expected to integrate these services with national health insurance frameworks to make the treatments more affordable for low-income patients.
Future developments for the facility may include the acquisition of more advanced linear accelerators and the establishment of a dedicated research wing to study cancer patterns specific to the Nigerian population.
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