Tuesday, February 4, 2020

Tanzania: Dar Intensifies Fight Against Cancer


TANZANIA joins the rest of the world to mark the World Cancer Day today, with statistics from the Ocean Road Cancer Institute showing a 40 per cent rise of patients who go for follow- up care at the
facility in the past five years.
Alarmed with the soaring number of cancer cases, the government is calling on Tanzanians to take necessary precautions to combat the disease, which is one of most fatal diseases across the global.
The Minister for Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children Ms Ummy Mwalimu made the call when gracing the commemoration of the World Cancer Day.
The commemoration coincided with the launching of a national guideline for cancer treatment at the Dar es Salaambased cancer facility.
She said statistics show that new cancer cases during the past five years stood at about 210,000, noting that the situation underlines the need for immediate intervention.
"New reported cases include youth as young as 30 years of age due to change in lifestyle and bad eating habits," she said.
"Yet many cancer patients do not attend hospitals for specialised treatment, so ends in the hands of untrained traditional healers who link the disease with witchery," the minister added.
The minister noted that cancer screening services are available across the country, with around 650 health centres, dispensaries and hospitals capacitated with preliminary screening facilities.
She urged the public to make effective use of the services so that the medication for cancer patients can start on time.
ORCI Director of Cancer Prevention Services Dr Crispin Kahesa told the 'Daily News' that in 2014 the number of patients who visited the hospital for follow-up cure was 26,000 but the number increased to 48,000 last year.
"This means that patients can now survive once put on medication, that's why the number of those who are coming for follow-up treatment has increased," Dr Kahesa said.
He said in the past, people were given treatment, but only a few returned for follow-up care because some of them died, but currently the number has increased because they have a better chance to survive after commencing the medication.
"In other words I can say that the number of cancer related deaths has dropped by more that 40 per cent because most of the patients are now coming back to the facility for checkups," he said.
He further said that the government has taken various initiatives to move cancer services closer to the people and currently there were 600 screening centres across the country.
Dr Kahesa added the treatment services were also available in zonal hospitals to help those who are being diagnosed with the disease to access the services from the facilities.
"We are now moving to regional referral hospitals where people could also access the services ... measures are in place to ensure that the number of health personnel being trained goes together with the availability of equipment," he said.
He noted after the services are made available in zonal and referral health facilities, ORCI will remain as consultant because services which were being provided at the institute in 2000s will be available in upcountry regions.
Dr Kahesa said the plans were to transform ORCI into the centre of excellence which will provide services that meet international standards.
He said the institute has installed modern equipment and plans were underway to start offering PET-CT Scan services.
"The machine will be launched this year and will make Tanzania the first country in East Africa with such a machine in a public hospital," Dr Kahesa said.
The PET-CT scan is a diagnostic examination that involves getting images of the body based on the detection of radiation from the emission of positrons.
It gives detailed information, including exact representation of certain types of cancer and their metastasis.
Thus, it is possible to display not only the cancer itself but also its activity.
For his part, ORCI Acting Director of Medical and Allied Health Services Dr Mark Mseti assured the community that cancer could easily be treated if diagnosed on time.
He said radiotherapy was the right and effective treatment. Dr Mseti listed some of the leading cases as cervix cancer, breast cancer and oesophagus cancer.
He named the most affected places as urban areas especially in cities like Tanga, Dar es Salaam, Kilimanjaro and Mbeya adding that unhealthy lifestyle was the main factor. "We want people to change their lifestyle," he appealed.
The World Cancer Day is marked on February 4 every year to raise awareness of the disease and to encourage its prevention, detection, and treatment.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) globally, one in five people are diagnosed with cancer before the age of 75, and the incidence continues to rise as life expectancy increases and patterns of disease change.
The cancer burden in the African Region is projected to increase from over one million new cases in 2018 to over two million cases by 2040.
In subSaharan Africa, deaths from cancer have increased by 13 per cent since 2012, accounting for 506 568 deaths in 2018.
The aims of WCD are to help save millions of preventable deaths each year by raising awareness and education about cancer, and pressing governments across the world to take action against the disease.

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