In its continued efforts to boost the number of qualified personnel to man the various cancer treatment centers across the nation, the Radio Therapy Training School recently passed out 14 Radiotherapists students. Nine of the graduates are from the National Hospital Abuja (NHA) while the rest came from University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan.

Radiotherapists are specialists that use high energy radiation in the treatment of cancer. Nigeria is still in need of qualified radiotherapists.

The Radiography Training School is a brain child of the Radiographers Registration Board of Nigeria (RRBN) in collaboration with the National Hospital Abuja (NHA), and the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan.

Speaking on the occasion, the Registrar of RRBN, Dr Reuben Babatunde commended the management of both hospitals for making the collaboration a fruitful one. He also used the occasion to solicit for more funding of radiotherapy programmes in Nigeria.

“We are seeking for more financial assistance from the relevant ministries so that we can fund and run the programme efficiently. The students are currently facing accommodation problems and some other related problems.

Also speaking, the Director of Hospital Services, Federal Ministry of Health, Dr. O. Banye commended the leadership of RRBN for the vision to collaborate with NHA and UCH to train Radiotherapists towards ensuring that more personnel are deployed in the treatment of cancer which he described as a growing medical cases in Nigeria.