United Against Cancer v2: Runcie C.W. Chidebe and Zainab Shinkafi-Bagudu on Bridging Care Gaps

In this episode of United Against Cancer, Runcie C.W. Chidebe, Executive Director of Project Pink Blue, joins host Zainab Shinkafi-Bagudu to discuss global disparities in cancer treatment and the impact of patient-driven initiatives. Chidebe highlights how Project Pink Blue’s approach, including the Upgrade the Oncology program is bridging gaps in local cancer care by bringing international expertise to Nigeria.

The conversation delves into the progress and challenges of cancer awareness, the vital role of civil society organizations, and the importance of integrating these efforts with national policies. Chidebe also reflects on the evolution of Project Pink Blue’s World Cancer Day initiatives and calls for continued global support and collaboration in the fight against cancer.

Dr. Zainab Shinkafi-Bagudu is a global cancer advocate, a pediatrician, a UICC Board Member, UICC President-Elect 2024-2026, Founder of the Medicaid Cancer Foundation, and the Chairperson of First Ladies Against Cancer (FLAC). Dr. Bagudu is working with the state ministries of health, education, and women affairs to implement programs to sustainably improve menstrual hygiene, girl-child education, economic empowerment of women, and put an end to gender-based violence. Zainab Shinkafi-Bagudu is a member of the Editorial Board of OncoDaily.

Runcie C.W. Chidebe serves as the Executive Director of Project PINK BLUE and holds a position as an External Academic Board Member for the Birmingham and Lewisham African and Caribbean Health Inequalities Review. With a background in psychology, research, and social entrepreneurship, Runcie is deeply committed to cancer control advocacy and global health consultancy.

He is dedicated to supporting underprivileged cancer patients, organizing free screenings for breast and cervical cancer in rural areas, fundraising for those in need, advocating for policy changes with governments, and providing specialized training for healthcare professionals in oncology and cancer awareness, including in local dialects. 

02:30 African Cancer Moonshot Initiative
08:45 Mentorship & Collaboration
16:50 Patient Voices Needed
19:00 Building Cancer Support Networks
25:00 Stop Blaming Patients
26:50 Conclusion

Zainab Shinkafi-Bagudu: Thank you Runcie, amazing response and it shows that this is where your passion is and the difference between awareness and advocacy is really very interesting to note.

I know that you are an advocate, you are a very adept advocate, you advocate for better clinical trials, you work on the clinical trials themselves, on government policy like you rightly mentioned

Sometimes you have to do it in a roundabout way, even though you have a seat on the committee, there have been so many instances and then you brought about the very important issue of working together with governments in a way that will be productive and I like the fact that we’re talking about this now because one thing that has been on my mind, we’re now global, we’re talking global here, this is a global platform and we can see that the United States of America is going through an election process.

In the last, should I say three years, the Cancer Moonshot initiative of President Biden has been very popular and spread across the globe. So how much of an election issue is this today? How are our advocates making sure, how are we going to make sure that the Cancer Moonshot initiative continues into the next government?

This is not about who wins or who loses, it’s about what is going to happen to the initiatives. I have been in that shoe from the Kirby State transition into today, the passion with which some of those projects are being driven is missing and I would say that how do we ensure that we can sustain some of those programs? This is a very big question, I don’t expect you to answer it but I just thought

I would drop it there.

Runcie C.W. Chidebe: So I think the Cancer Moonshot is one of the most phenomenal projects that the US government through Joe Biden has really been pushing for the past few years. But I would really believe that, I have done a research, I’ve done a paper on Cancer Moonshot, not published anyway, but I did some kind of understanding what exactly Cancer Moonshot have really done over the years and what it’s been projected to do. The reality of what I’m seeing from Cancer Moonshot is, Cancer Moonshot is strictly an American initiative but interested in solving a global problem.

So while Cancer Moonshot is really exciting and really have been making and funding a lot of initiative, not just in the US but across the world in trying to end cancer as we know it, I think Cancer Moonshot to some level have been institutionalized. In my own opinion, I don’t think who wins the US election may have like a lot of impact, it may have some, maybe not a significant impact on maybe like scrapping the initiative totally, but I think maybe it may reduce the funding. However, but I think the Cancer Moonshot has really become something that I’m not sure anyone would want it to really be missing in any US government budgets.

My own level of advocacy right now is that I think African countries, many low and middle income countries need to begin to think about the African Cancer Moonshot or about Asian Cancer Moonshot. You know, why can’t we as a continent also have our own Moonshot? The reality is that, let’s think about this from the biggest problem facing cancer.

The biggest problem facing cancer I can tell you Ma right now is cancer funding, global funding is not there. And that is what Cancer Moonshot is doing that is changing the landscape. Number two biggest problem is the cancer workforce.
Number three is low research. Number four is blaming cancer patients for cancer. So if you think of this, my own personal analysis, you would really see that if different continent, for instance, the global fund that we all are celebrating and really delighted how it has changed the faces of HIV and other disease, right?

The global fund was first initiated by Kofi Annan, an African. In fact, the $100,000 that he won as a prize in Philadelphia, he donated it to global fund because he wanted and said, we need a fund that can really care and support. Now this fund has become a catalytic fund that is raising millions of dollars every single year for these diseases.

Why can’t we have a cancer fund? You know, why can’t you have a cancer fund? Because I believe the global fund is just more like a replica of Cancer Moonshot, but you know, slightly different because the U.S. Why can’t you have that in Nigeria? Why can’t you have that across Africa? Why is it that African Union, for instance, cannot set out a fund and say, we have this and we want everyone to donate into this. We have so many millionaires, Tony Elumelu, who even donate to these funds in those countries.

We have them, they donate to this global fund, you know, so it’s a lot of things to really unpack on how institutionalizing a policy will not really impact, you know, whichever government that comes in.

Zainab Shinkafi-Bagudu: Yeah. Very interesting perspective. Thank you for that, Runcie.
We hope for the best for both U.S.-based programs and more funding generally for cancer. Yes, we do have a lot of very philanthropic people out of the African continent, contrary to the belief that Africans do not have that ability. But there are philanthropic that give altruistically and are making a good way for funds like Global Fund, Gavi, I know, and so on.

So interesting, and we hope to see many more of them. Now, we saved the best for last. So let’s talk about your work, which shows around World Cancer Day every year.
It’s an amazing work. It’s an award winning work. It’s a published work.

It’s a research work. And there’s so many aspects to the World Cancer Day work that is held by Project Pink Blue. I don’t miss it.
There are times when even Runcie is unable to attend. I am there. So it’s a fun work.

Tell us about the work. Tell us about the prizes you have won and what stimulates you and where do you see it’s going next? What is the biggest achievement of that work?
A little bit about the work. The biggest thing that you achieve every year that you feel that this is why I will keep going. And where, what is the next step?

Where do you see it going? So we need to hear about it first.

Runcie C.W. Chidebe: Thank you so much. So I would really say that for a very young person like me, and I think for most young people across Africa and across many, you know, marginalized countries and, you know, countries that are really battling with so many things, some of the challenges that young people like us who want to be change makers in our community face is you see a problem, you want to solve the problem, but you’re not finding mentors or you’re not finding people that look like you that are doing what they are doing and that are willing to support you.

So those are the kind of problems that most young people face. And when young people face this problem, sometimes people don’t even understand the depth of this problem.
And this is why I am so appreciative of, you know, someone like you for the impact you made in my life when in 2013, I was doing my national youth service. I saw the work that you posted. I saw the different events you did.

I participated in it and I came to you and I said to you, please, I think it was Abubakar, I sent a message and I said, I want to meet with you. And let’s really understand that, you know, it’s very difficult to meet with you because there are so many demands on your time. But I sent that message and Abubakar reached out and said, hey, your excellency is really willing to meet with you.

And we met our first meeting. I remember I can just get the flashes on my face. And we met for the first time.
That was just a few days after your work. And I told you exactly the question you are asking me now. That I ask you the same questions.

What has been the impact of this work that you are hosting? And how can I replicate this? Do you know that many people who do not imbibe many leaders like you, many amazing people like you who did not imbibe the spirit of collaboration, the spirit of mentorship, will not answer that question, will not encourage me to replicate the same thing you are doing.

Because you will probably see me as a competitor. But your excellency, you did not do that. You saw me as a collaborator.
You encouraged me and said, hey, this is how we do it. You can even innovate and add something to it. And that is the beginning.
That is the beginning. That is just how the World Cancer Day work started. You know, do you remember the first of the work that we did was in 2015?

And it was phenomenal. And we sent a letter to you, you know, asking you, asking you, I mean, it’s a funny, very funny letter. But you can see the passion in the letter.
Asking you to support the work that we wanted to do. You know, so many people will feel like, no, no, no, no, we don’t need a competitor in Abuja. But you supported the work that we did.

And we hosted that 2015 work. And since then, it has just been amazing. I would really say some of the secrets of the success of the work is that we have worked so hard over the years to sort of hide the name Project Pink Blue out of the work and just promote the World Cancer Day more.

So, when people see the work, people see the posters, people see all the things we do about the World Cancer Day, they see the World Cancer Day work more than even the organization that is hosting the event. So, even on our t-shirts, on everything we do, Project Pink Blue is always taking the backseat, but the World Cancer Day takes the front page. And we learned over the years that this has made the community to own it.

Abuja people have owned World Cancer Day. So, once it’s getting to December, people have already started messaging us and like, hey, I hope you are learning more about World Cancer Day. People have really, really owned the work and we have learned over the years.

We have integrated research into it because we realized that if you don’t do research, you will not really understand the impact of the work. And we are so grateful for Union for International Cancer Control, because the UICC is actually the organization that really initiated the World Cancer Day work, the World Cancer Day in general. And we’re also very grateful to them because they have also promoted it.

They have also supported it. And I would say UICC have been doing an incredible work, very fascinating work, you know, Carrie Adams and, you know, the UICC World Cancer Day Advisory Board has been driving the World Cancer Day in a way that is no longer just a platform driven by UICC. It’s now a global, truly global opportunity for the world to mobilize action against cancer, to launch different initiatives, to engage with their policymakers.

In fact, we through the World Cancer Day have seen Vice President of Nigeria tweet about World Cancer Day. It’s had phenomenal impact and we hope the UICC will continue to promote and encourage member organizations and other organizations across the world to do, you know, World Cancer Day activities. So we’re looking forward to doing more events.
I’m really hoping it will be a platform that will continue to inspire communities, inspire people to lead the change that they want to see in their communities.

Zainab Shinkafi-Bagudu: In their communities. Well, thank you so much. Very interesting.
And, you know, your face, the way your face lights up, I can see that this is something that we know that you’re very passionate about this. And I’m sure those that are watching are going to also feel the same way. Now, finally, let’s talk about the support groups that you’re so involved in and that you have not put together.

I chair one of the support groups, the Network of Persons Living with Cancer. And it’s a very, very group that touches me a lot when they reach out to me sometimes, can we have a meeting? I’m like, anytime I can have a meeting for you, because these are all champions.

You choose to call them champions, people that are struggling with the disease and all the complications of cancer, but they find time. They want to give back. They want to do something.
They come together, support. So who are we not to support them? And thank you, Runcie, for the work that you do in that area.

Tell us about the support groups and how much more. You’ve spoken about these persons living with cancer and how they need to be part of the conversation more at the table where decisions are being made and not just take decisions on their behalf. In fact, the WHA this year made, declared, there was a declaration that social participation has to be more active across all sectors of disease.
So where do you see the support group going? Why do you do this? And a little bit more information about the logic behind it.

Runcie C.W. Chidebe: Yeah, so I, you know, and I am really, I’m really, really excited to share this story because that’s why I love UICC a lot, because UICC has really touched my life greatly. In 2016, I traveled to UICC World Cancer Congress in Paris. You know, after UICC had provided a $57,000 grant to Project Pink Blue to start up patient navigation in 2015.

So we traveled to Paris to share the impact of the work that we’re doing as at then. And when I arrived this conference, I saw so many people. I saw so many people.

I saw so many cancer patients in the UICC patient pavilion. Whoever brought that idea is just an excellent idea. In the patient pavilion, only patients just come around and sit and chat and discuss.
I looked over in the pavilion. I saw that all the patients there, no one looked like me. There were no black patients.
Very few black patients came around later, but they were all based in the US. They were all based in the UK. They were all based out of Africa.

So I asked myself a question. Why is it that we don’t have cancer patients from Africa in global events? Does it mean we don’t have cancer survivors?

I can tell you that my flights from Paris back to Nigeria was filled with lots of emotion. I was literally crying within myself, like, we need to change this path. We need to get cancer patients be the voice that they want.
We need to get them out. And that was my meeting with you when I was telling you this.

Zainab Shinkafi-Bagudu: You came back from Paris, came to me and said, how can I get the survivors? Where are they? Are they online?
At the time it wasn’t so popular.

Runcie C.W. Chidebe: Exactly. Yeah. And then I came back to Nigeria.
I was so frustrated. And I reached back to you. I said, hey, we need to do something more drastic.
And they said, well, we can support you. They connected me to a lot of other support groups across the world. And I said, okay.

I started drafting documents to create a support group. And I was so happy I had a survivor who works with me. She was a bit skeptical whether to come out or not.
I keep encouraging her. One day she agreed to a blessed memory. She had been working with me for over nine years.

We just lost her in February. We said, okay, maybe the best thing is for us to hit the hospital. Hit the TV.
We started going to the hospital to encourage patients to come. And then that was how we found Gloria Oji. We recruited Gloria Oji in 2015, 2016, we recruited Gloria Oji, 2016.

And when we recruited her, we gave Gloria Oji a mobile phone. We recruited a male breast cancer survivor who heard my voice on TV. And we gave him an Etisalat mobile phone to start the first patient navigation and say, we want you to speak.
So if anyone call me, I will push the call to you and you don’t have to pay for it. Project Pink Blue will pay for that call. That’s how we started.

And then we started with the group. Gradually, Swat Gimba joined us. That’s four people now.
Gradually, we added more people. From that 2016 to the 20, don’t forget it’s the end of 2016, to the beginning of 2017, we were about seven. Then on the day of the event, World Cancer Day, and I talk about UICC, World Cancer Day, UICC actually encouraged me and said, you could launch, the name of the person who did it is Marina, Marina Tiefan.

She was the one who was running UICC SPAC, MBC, Metastatic Breast Cancer SPAC program. And we launched the support group on the 9th of February at Transcorp Hilton in 2017, Abuja Breast Cancer. That was when we launched it.
Dr. Bello was there, Rahmatu Hassan of the Federal Ministry of Health, such an amazing woman, one of the best that we’ve ever had working with the government, you know, very, very passionate and understands how CSO will work. So that’s how the whole journey went. And we had the first, the first breast cancer support group in Abuja, with nine patients.

And immediately we launched it, I hands off, I said, Gloria, oh yeah, take off. You’re going to be the president. I’m not a survivor.
I should not be leading this. You lead it. We only support you from behind.
And I can tell you, Gloria have done a phenomenal work. Then in 2020, we started getting a lot of, before 2020, we started getting a lot of backlash. Men were fighting us.

They were like, you guys, what about, we have colorectal cancer, we have prostate cancer. Why are men not allowed to be the breast cancer support group? So we expanded it and call it a network of people impacted with cancer.
Today, I can tell you, we have over, we have over 300 cancer patient are part of the network. We’ve set up the Abuja part, we’ve set up Lagos. We’re working on setting up Kano.

We’re working on setting up another one in Northeast. The goal, it’s not really for me to own any breast cancer support group. The goal is that patients really have the passion, but they don’t know how to start.
So we are CSO leaders that already know how to start this kind of thing. We need to just support them, empower them and have them run their thing. So that has been my journey with support group and empowering cancer patient, having them to be the voice.

And I’m really, really, really excited that it’s really making a huge change across the country. And I hope, I hope the champions continue to drive those process.

Zainab Shinkafi-Bagudu: I hope so. Well done. Congratulations.
Amazing, amazing achievements. Indeed, this, you need to in the area or should I say within the country to be able to feel the impact of what the support groups that you instigated after being stimulated by a trip to the World Cancer Congress by the UICC initiated and it made you go on. And today it’s really a network and so many cancer champions are able to do.

Sometimes when he comes into either the walk or an event with all of them, it’s like, my God, it’s so fulfilling and amazing. So congratulations, Runcie. You are an amazing person.
The work that you’re doing is truly, truly remarkable. You have grown into a young old man, because you’re a young man with so much experience in this time, because you have done the work, you have walked it and you have done it and you’ve got your hands in there and did it. And I’m so proud of you.

And I wish you all the very best. I don’t know if you have any parting shots for us. But if you have any wrap ups that you would like to make, please go ahead and do so now.

Runcie C.W. Chidebe: Okay, I think the last thing I would want to say is to really appeal to the global community, appeal to physicians, appeal to oncologists, surgeons, and global health care leaders to stop blaming cancer patients. Stop blaming cancer patient for presenting late. Stop blaming cancer patient for presenting stage four.

Rather, blame the cancer health care system that did not fix the system to help them to present early. When we fix the system, patient will definitely present early. And let’s not forget, many cancer patient present early, but the system failed them.

Until we are able to really, really understand that blaming cancer patient will not solve the problem, we will continue to go round around these issues around cancer. Finally, a cancer patient in Kuala Lumpur, a cancer patient in Kazakhstan, in Geneva, in Texas, in Lagos, Nigeria, is the same. What differs is what they have access to, what they are able to afford, and what is available to them.

So if we want a truly global cancer control, it’s so important to ensure that global cancer control really think in this direction. Understanding that cancer lives matters, cancer patient lives matters, but also, you know, the leadership and all the different aspects of who drive this cancer conversation is very, very crucial. Thank you.

Zainab Shinkafi-Bagudu: Well, thank you, Runcie. Thank you so much for your time. And I wish you all the best as you continue to progress in your career and impact the lives of people living with cancer.
Thank you. My last ask is for you to say with as much emotion, this is very emotional now, as you can muster at this point, please say united against cancer.

United against cancer.