Nigeria is targeting technology transfer and local production of radiotherapy and imaging equipment by 2030, Dr Iziaq Salako, Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, said after the Link Global Summit on Innovation and Practice in Oncology in Beijing.
Salako said the government would use zero-duty and zero-VAT incentives for health manufacturing to build domestic capacity, and that imported technology must arrive with training and in-country servicing arrangements attached.
“Machines without people are monuments,” he said, adding that “innovation in oncology is meaningful only where it reaches the patient.”
The plan includes joint clinical trials, AI-assisted treatment planning and tele-oncology partnerships between Chinese and Nigerian cancer centres. Nigeria intends to twin its cancer centres of excellence, including the National Institute for Cancer Research and Treatment, with Chinese institutions, and to build a clinical training base serving as a West African hub for advanced radiotherapy training.
Nigeria recorded an estimated 127,763 new cancer cases and 79,542 cancer deaths in 2022. The mortality-to-incidence ratio improved from 62.3 per cent in 2022 to 59.6 per cent in 2024. About 140 early-career scientists have been trained through NICRAT, which has funded 24 research grants.
Why it matters: Domestic radiotherapy manufacturing would cut Nigeria’s exposure to import costs and machine downtime that currently strand cancer patients.
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Nigeria Targets Local Cancer Equipment Assembly by… ABUJA, NIGERIA - Nigeria is targeting technology transfer and local assembly of radiotherapy and imaging equipment by 2030, Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare Iziaq Salako said, according to a News Agency of…
