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Nov 14, 2023, 04:44

Zainab Shinkafi-Bagudu: NIGERIAN JOLLOF IS THE BEST ON EARTH

Zainab Shinkafi-Bagudu, Chief Executive Officer at

“The 14th AORTIC- Africa Conference in Dakar, Senegal, was quite memorable for me with multidisciplinary specialists involved in cancer research, care and advocacy from around the world. Latest findings were shared alongside a drive to address the problem of workforce on the continent. AORTIC is an excellent platform for exchanging and building partnerships with leading oncologists, organizations and manufacturers.

I facilitated a session anchored by Union for International Cancer Control (UICC)
and World Hepatitis Alliance titled Liver Cancer Can’t Wait-regarding the alarming global burden of Hepititis and related Liver cancer which, despite the low cost of HBV vaccination, is not adequately prioritized by governments, health workers and the public. This is attributable to poor awareness at all levels.

Whilst whizzing through sessions, chatting up new contacts and strengthening old ones, I participated in another session supported by City Cancer Challenge where I shared barriers faced by cancer patients when trying to access healthcare services. Much of my narration resonated with other participants and indeed we share many commonalities across Africa and other LMICs.

Long travel time to access treatment centers is a well documented problem that is on the rise due to increased conflict afflicted areas. This issue of “New therapeutic geographies of global cancer”, is one of many to be addressed at this years London Global Cancer Week by Richard Sullivan and other colleagues from the Institute of Cancer Policy. The program will be streamed live on ecancer is and will be worth joining.

I made further use of my presence in the scenic city of Dakar as the Keynote speaker at the Africa Healthcare Summit by ZENITH GLOBAL HEALTH Global Health. The theme was on Pandemic Preparedness in Africa. I am encouraged by the effort of the summit to bridge the Anglo and Franco phone parts of Africa. After, a quick dash to the market and acquiring some lovely Senegalese kaftans, I called at our Nigerian Embassy in Dakar, to show appreciation for the warm care they provided my team and I with. The young but highly professional staff gave me a lot of confidence that indeed, Nigerians are capable of excelling and propelling the country to greater heights, if given the chance.

I congratulate my dear sister and colleague at UICC, Dr Miriam Mutebi, MD,MSc,FACS who just started her role as President of Aortic and wish her resounding success in her tenure. Congratulations to all the newly elected exco also.

By and large, my most unequivocal research finding from Dakar is : NIGERIAN JOLLOF IS THE BEST ON EARTH!!!”

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Source: Zainab Shinkafi-Bagudu/LinkedIn