When I read about the demise of Princess Edith Ike Mark-Odu in KWENU last Friday, I was rattled for two main reasons. First, her death was a rude reminder of the brevity of life and the mortality of man. Secondly, it dawned on me that breast cancer which has been described as the albatross of women worldwide had claimed another woman and, this time, a sister and a mother.

Late Edith was in high spirits when I interviewed her few months ago at the E3 Ward of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH). That was my second meeting with her in many years. Our first meeting was in the early eighties at the Vice Chancellor’s lodge of the then Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi, Benue State when Princess Edith, a relation of ours, paid a courtesy call on my uncle, Professor Gaius Igboeli, who was the Vice-Chancellor of the institution at the time. Along with my cousins we were all summoned for a formal introduction to this charming aunt and her elder son, who we used to hear about only through the newspapers and televisions.

For some inexplicable reasons, my next meeting with this lady -- unlike the first -- was marked by sobriety and pain. For more than an hour, the Princess covered with drapes and popped up with pillows at the surgical Ward-E3 spoke about her three-year battle with cancer. She was cheered on by her friend Ms. Ngozi Anyaegbunam and a female relative. All through the interview led by Mr Emma Agu, the Managing Director of Champion Newspapers Limited, the former image maker of Guinness Nigeria, plc. spoke in a subdued voice. The cancer had obviously left its mark on her body. It was killing her slowly but steadily.

The charm was gone. The beauty had been dimmed by the debilitating disease. But she retained her eloquence and was quite confident that she would survive the disease. For her, this was another war to be won -- just like several wars she had fought and won on several fronts in her professional and personal life. The noble Princess maintained a stoic optimism that she was going to survive the spreading cancer with its excruciating pain and be up again in record time. The rest is history, as the once toast of the nation’s social circles bowed out penultimate week at the age of 56.

But her legacies which she etched so deeply on the struggles of Nigerian women against the shackles of male chauvinism will continue to resonate loudly through the sands of time.

Adieu, dear Princess. Adieu!

By her death, Princess Edith Ike Mark-Odu of the Ike Royal Family of Ndi-Ikelionwu, Anambra State has joined the legion of women worldwide who were killed by breast cancer. So much has been written and said about the impact of this disease on the womenfolk. Unfortunately in our climes, so little is known about the breast cancer because the condition is shrouded in secrecy and fuelled by ignorance. It is perhaps common knowledge that the disease, just like other aspects of the nation’s health sector, commands inadequate funding from government. That explains why the lady along with her friends, notably Ms Anyaegbunam, devoted tremendous energy and resources towards provoking media and public attention to a disease is killing Nigerian women in great numbers.

A recent report by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) shows that in Nigeria, Burundi, Ghana, Uganda, Kenya, and other Sub-Saharan African countries, gynaecological and breast cancer screening services are limited to tertiary health facilities. Even in Lagos, screening centres are few and far between. Unfortunately most of the urban poor and rural population remain unreachable.

As usual the story is remarkably different in the developed world, notably North America and Europe, where there is tremendous financial commitment to breast cancer research and control. For instance in October 2000, President Bill Clinton signed into law the Breast and Cervical Cancer Prevention and Treatment Act 2000, which gives states the option to provide medical assistance through Medicaid to eligible women who were screened for and found to have breast or cervical cancer, including pre-cancerous conditions, through the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program (NBCCEDP).

Subsequently, on January 15, 2002, President George Bush signed the Native American Breast and Cervical Cancer Treatment Technical Amendment Act of 2001. This bill clearly states that Indian women with breast or cervical cancer, who are eligible for health services provided under a medical care program of the Indian Health Service or of a tribal organization, are included in the optional Medicaid eligibility category of breast or cervical cancer patients added by the Breast and Cervical Cancer Prevention and Treatment Act of 2000.

NBCCEDP, which is administered by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), provides free breast and cervical cancer screening and follow-up diagnostic services to women in need, such as those who are uninsured or have low incomes. It is interesting to note that in 2000, the US health agency -- according to its national surveillance report, began its 10th year of this landmark program, supporting early detection programs in all 50 states, six U.S. territories, the District of Columbia, and 12 American Indian and Alaska Native organizations. The CDC-administered National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program has screened almost 1.75 million women and provided more than 4 million screening examinations, it also stated.

Perhaps it is expedient to reecho the agency’s statement on the disease. "All women are at risk for breast cancer — the most commonly diagnosed cancer in American women, except skin cancer. Breast cancer cannot be prevented, however, studies show that early detection of breast cancer saves lives."

Obviously this will suffice for now. There is no doubt that the ebullient Princess Edith Ike Mark-Odu, even in death, would be glad if the Nigerian health policy makers take a cue from the aforementioned success story in breast cancer control services in the United State.