THE Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tanzania (ELCT) is looking forward to improving the Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre (KCMC) so that it can serve more cancer patients.
The Head of the ELCT, Bishop Dr Fredrick
Shoo said here during the launching of the 2017 World Breast Cancer
Month Campaign that the number of cancer patients is increasing which
needs quality and early treatment, and that KCMC should be ready for
that.
However, he said that as much as ELCT
owns the hospital through its Good Samaritan Foundation, they are
willing to carry on their noble duty to offer services although there is
need for improvement of facilities so that people are served better.
Dr Shoo who is also the Northern Diocese
head said that the Church recognised the good intention of President
John Magufuli who is focused on strengthening social services, including
the health sector, and that a better way to reduce congestion at the
government-owned Ocean Road Cancer Institute was through refining the
KCMC to become a super specialised hospital.
“I believe the government is closely
monitoring the presence of this facility, and that it has a good
intention to improve it for the betterment of the people.
The improvement of the zonal super
specialised hospitals in the country is the only way to curb the issue
of overcrowding of cancer patients at the Ocean Road Cancer Institute,”
he said.
While ELCT owns the hospital, the
government of Tanzania is a key stakeholder as it cooperates with the
hospital by funding some costs, and the hospital serves as the Northern
Zone referral hospital although it receives patients from many parts of
the country and even abroad.
One of the needs that the clergy and
other medical experts at KCMC spoke of as a huge need is radiation
therapy that uses high-energy radiation to shrink tumors and kill cancer
cells.
X-rays, gamma rays, and charged
particles, which are types of radiation used for cancer treatment. The
radiation may be delivered by a machine outside the body or come from
radioactive material placed in the body near cancer cells.
About half of all cancer patients
receive some type of radiation therapy sometime during the course of
their treatment. Bishop Shoo said that the Church would be a good link
between KCMC and the government in the mission meant to improve the
health sector in the country.
“It is our responsibility to remind the
government of the existence of this facility and the challenges it faces
in treating cancer patients, especially lack of the important radiation
therapy services for cancer patients,” he said.
KCMC Executive Director, Dr Gileard
Masenga, said a total of 686 cancer patients were subject to screening
and treatment since the introduction of cancer treatment at the hospital
in December 2016.
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