The Sunday News
FOR many people being diagnosed with cancer is akin to being handed down a death sentence by a High Court judge. Like robbers dressed in leather jackets and working swiftly and slickly behind the scenes, cancer robs families of their loved ones some of them most prized members, family’s golden trophies.
It leaves some of them crippled, on Zimbabwe’s already crumbling health care systems. Non-infectious diseases like cancer are often forgotten, underfunded, never quite making it onto the global agendas. Just witness the manner in which an infectious condition like HIV and Aids has received global attention and one might add global funding resulting in the huge successes that have been scored in that area.
Although in the past it was HIV that was virtually seen as a death sentence, now people with cancer are in those shoes even though this should not be the case, as Mrs Rosina Ncube (53), a cancer survivor, now understands.
Mrs Ncube woke up one early summer morning of 2011, and as her usual routine, she felt her breasts checking whether there were unusual lumps. To her surprise, she discovered a lump had developed on her left breast and after visiting the doctor she was told that she had breast cancer. Just like many, she could not sleep trying to figure out why her. She would even cry as she battled to find out why she had become a victim of cancer. For her the end was nigh. Death was the only thing she would think about.
However, with advice and counselling she later realised that she was just like someone suffering from a common ailment like flu.
“When most people are told they have cancer, they think of death yet there is nothing like that,” said the breast cancer survivor, Mrs Ncube at the brink of tears. “People should not believe what they are told by other people. Some tend to believe that they are bewitched and go from one traditional healer to another with no success. That is dangerous, and also makes it (cancer) worse. Many take a long time to seek treatment and as a result it reaches a critical stage when the breast bursts and that is very dangerous as doctors cannot do anything at that stage.”
In Africa, cancer has been associated with witchcraft while others view it as a foreign disease which only attacks the rich and whites. But the truth is the disease knows no race. Although October has been set aside as breast cancer month where survivors and victims take this time to remember those who died of the disease and also call for better measures to eradicate the disease, the awareness goes beyond that because of the sky rocketing cases of breast cancer related deaths which have left all and sundry shocked.
Last year, a record 6 548 new cases of cancer were recorded in Zimbabwe representing an increase of 6,7 percent from the previous year. Of the new cases 2 777 were recorded from males and 3 771 were females. The leading causes of the deaths were cervical cancer with 13 percent, prostate cancer nine percent, Kaposi Sarcoma eight percent, non-Hodgkin lymphoma seven percent, primary liver cancer eight percent, and breast cancer seven percent.
Cancer is the uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells in the body, which are also called malignant cells. When cancer is confined to one location and has not spread, the most common treatment approach is surgery. If the surgery cannot remove all of the cancer, the options for treatment include radiation and chemotherapy or both.
Mrs Ncube, a dressmaker, speaks with a low tone while her face is marked with determination, hope and courage when she talks about cancer. She never stops believing. She repeats the truth that has been said by doctors and medical experts that cancer is manageable especially when detected early.
For breast cancer, she says women should constantly check for unusual lumps on their breasts, as this will help to detect breast cancer early.
Said Mrs Ncube: “When I discovered that I had lumps I was taken to the doctor and I had to undergo several stages that include radiotherapy and chemotherapy. When cancer is discovered early, there will be no need for people to go for these expensive stages or operations like radiotherapy and also chemotherapy. Unfortunately, in the country even if the person discovered it early, the challenge is that our public hospitals are poorly equipped hence one might be told to come after three months of which the cancer will be spreading.”
Cancer is one of the expensive diseases to cure. Chemotherapy can cost as much as $600 a month, whereas radiotherapy can cost $200 per month. The treatment also goes with the stage at which the cancer will be at, that is, when detected early the cost will be lower than when cancer is at its extreme.
Mrs Ncube went through the gruesome terrain of securing funding for her treatment. Her earnings from dressmaking and her husband’s salary were not enough to take her through her medication.
“My medical aid was not catering for my medication. I was told that my medical aid has not matured hence I had to source for funding. My husband and relatives helped me. My husband had to take a loan for me to go to the hospital. More so, I did not go to public hospitals but I went to the private institutions and I never experienced the burden of being told to come after some months for check up and treatment. I am grateful that I am now feeling strong,” she said with a smile on her face.
There have been unsuccessful calls for the Government to decentralise cancer treatment services to provinces and districts to avert more cancer- related deaths. The other call has been for government to introduce a cancer levy. However, treasury said the move was going to overburden workers who are at the moment paying an Aids levy.
Former Deputy Prime Minister Ms Thokozani Khupe urged Government to introduce the cancer levy to help in research and treatment so as to cut down on the number of people succumbing to various types of cancers in the country.
“We are alarmed by the number of women dying from breast and cervical cancer in Zimbabwe and (are) concerned by the unavailability of cancer treatment in Zimbabwe,” said Ms Khupe.
“We are also deeply worried by the lack of accessibility to cancer treatment in Zimbabwe and further concerned that cancer treatment is not available, accessible and affordable.”
Ms Khupe was herself diagnosed with breast cancer during her tenure as Deputy Prime Minister in 2013 and has undergone intensive treatment outside the country.
In responding to the call for the introductory of cancer levy Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa said: “The tax payer is already overburdened and I will be very reluctant to impose such measures (cancer levy),” Chinamasa told the legislators.
Mpilo Central Hospital in Bulawayo and Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals in Harare are the only Government run health institutions with radiotherapy machines.
Unfortunately, cancer survivors said, the machine at Mpilo is dysfunctional and as a result people are referred to Parirenyatwa, but the hospital cannot accommodate everyone. Mrs Ncube challenged the Government to rethink it’s position on cancer levy.
“The Government must intervene and help introduce cancer levy,” she said, adding: “They should subsidise. Government officials, also have relatives who might suffer from cancer hence they should look at this matter seriously.”
Statistics supplied by Zimbabwe’s Cancer Registry Registrar Mr Erick Chokunonga revealed that cancer cases were on the rise due to change in diet and life style.
“Prevalence of cancer cases in the country and the resultant deaths is worrying. Early cancer screening is ideal hence women should get screened. An early detention will be good in that it helps to combat the virus before its spreads,” said Mr Chokunonga.
The change of diet was a topical issue when African First Ladies met in Nairobi, Kenya recently to discuss breast cancer cases in the continent. First Ladies said despite being a top killer, cancer was not being given the priority it deserves. In Africa, it is sad to note that there is no country with strategies or measures to address cancer, as a result the disease has remained underfunded. First Ladies advised African citizens to eat healthy traditional foods instead of processed products as a strategy to prevent cancer.
A recent study American Cancer Society shows that cancer burden is rising in Africa. About 650 000 people in Africa develop cancer annually, reads the report, because treatment remains largely unavailable or inaccessible, about 510 000 cancer deaths occur annually, an 80 percent mortality ratio.
The study further say that more than one-third of the cancer deaths in Africa are due to cancers that are easily preventable and/or treatable if detected early which include breast cancer. Also on a sad note, a 2011 research by World Health Organisation (WHO) found that in developing countries there is an increase in breast cancer cases of more than 7.5 percent a year over the 30 year period studied – more than twice the global rate.
Bulawayo Cancer Association of Zimbabwe member Mrs Jean Clark, a breast cancer survivor of 25 years said collective measures need to be taken to reduce cases of breast cancer.
“We are doing as much as we can with our awareness campaigns despite the fact that we are volunteers. Some of our campaigns include company’s health awareness day. I also advise ladies to visit the doctor if there are any serious notable changes in bowel movements or lumps in their breasts.”
