“Parliament approved the AIDS levy and likewise, government should provide for a cancer prevention and treatment budget. Health activists and organisations should lobby government to allocate funds to cancer issues through the national budget,” said Gasa in a recent interview.
Ignorance about this killer disease has been blamed for the increasing numbers of cancer cases in Zimbabwe. Gasa observed that the worsening cancer situation in the country exposed serious gaps in the health sector. “Government leaders must to show the political will to fight this disease,” he added.
Dr Bernadette Ndoro, an oncologist (cancer specialist) said cancer would not be eliminated, but people should take preventive measures and seek treatment. “There is no way the world can completely win the war against cancer unless people’s biological setup is changed. Basically, cancer should be prevented to lessen its burden on individuals and the nation. Prevention starts with early detection tests and cancer detected early is dealt with easily and cheaper,” she said at the World Cancer Day in Harare last week.
Awareness campaigns and research into how communities regard cancer were cited as key preventive measures of the disease.
Prof Sunanda Ray, College of Health University of Zimbabwe, noted that preventative measures should start with people managing their smoking, drinking and eating behaviours. “As preventive measure, girls can go for testing and vaccination against cancer of the cervix before they turn sexually active. Excessive drinking and overweight create fertile grounds for cancer among other conditions. Cancer can also be genetically inherited,” Ray said, advising people seeking treatment from traditional healers to also visit hospitals and other modern medical institutions for clinical tests.
She said people should be empowered with information for them to control their lives through knowledge. Dr Anna Mary Nyakabau, also an oncologist, called for a holistic approach to manage cancer and advocated for free and accessible treatment for all cancer patients.
“It’s a fact that Africans seek treatment from traditional healers for types of cancer known in vernacular as Jeko, Gomarara and Nhuta among others. This necessitates research into these practices and find the best way of bringing traditional medicines into the cancer prevention and treatment system,” Dr Nyakabau said, emphasising the need for both types of medicines to work together.
Bev Sebastian, executive director Kidzcan, said her organisation runs an early detection programme, to educate clinicians and traditional medical practitioners on the early symptoms of childhood cancers.
“We also recently employed a clinical social worker to make follow-ups on patients who default on treatment. Zimbabwe faces a serious challenge in this regard, as the country only has one oncology unit at Parirenyatwa Hospital in Harare. This forces some cancer cases to be referred either to South Africa or India for treatment,” Sebastian said.
Kidzcan which caters for children aged up to 18, supports the Ministry of Health and Child Care by providing early cancer detection through national awareness and sensitisation campaigns, funding diagnostic testing, sourcing and distributing critically needed oncology medication and supplementary feeding programs for cancer patients among other roles.
Though Zimbabwe has a cancer registry, the true statistics of cancer cases remain elusive as most of the cases go unregistered. Some people would seek alternative traditional means of cure or simply die quietly without seeking treatment.
Post published in: News