By Abimbola Joseph
CITIZENS COMPASS— A Non-Governmental Organisation, Go After Care Initiative (GACI), on Thursday, called on the Federal Government to integrate palliative care into Primary Health Centers(PHC) across Nigeria.
The coordinator of the NGO, Mrs Ufeoma Nehemiah, made the appeal when her team visited a resilient cancer patient in Mowokekere, Ijede area of Ikorodu, Lagos State.
The NGO leader said that during her visit, the cancer patient shared with her a distressful struggle she has been undergoing and severe constipation caused by her medication.
She added that the symptom that drained her comfort and dignity, yet felt too “small” to make the long, tiring trip to a tertiary hospital.
“With deep respect and empathy, we sat beside her, listened to her experience, and provided professional guidance on nutritional support.
“We emphasised increased vegetable and fluid intake and offered practical, gentle strategies for relief, encouraging her in prayer for renewed strength and healing.
“We humbly raise our voice in advocacy to call for the integration of palliative care into PHC across Nigeria,” she said.
According to Nehemiah, her story reflects what countless patients suffer within the community, managing life-limiting illnesses while lacking access to basic symptom control close to home.
She advocated for increased (PHC) adding that no one should be allowed to travel hours for relief from pain, nausea, or constipation when such care can and should be available in their community.
She said that the Go-After Care Initiative is committed to advocating for course, to go beyond hospital walls to deliver compassionate, professional palliative care support where patients live.
Nehemiah added that the NGO also affirmed their dignity, ease their suffering, and walk with families through each stage of their journey because timely, local access to symptom management is not a luxury, it is a right.
“Our NGO remain steadfast in our commitment, to serve with excellence, to care with empathy, and to ensure that no one in our communities faces serious illness alone,”
