CANCER PATIENTS NEED SPECIAL ATTENTION

The burden of suffering endured by patients fighting cancer needs special attention. Yet many hospitals in developing economies and most in low-income countries lack a long-term investment in basic infrastructure and qualified personnel needed to treat varied cancers. This factor is one of many factors contributing to cancer as a growing problem.

 

Source: The Citizen website

A report by Richard Sullivan, Pramesh and Christopher Booth that Talking Cancer has seen show that in sub-Saharan Africa, only 16 countries have access to basic pathology services.

“There are inadequate cancer diagnosis and treatment centres, trained staff, and equipment required in fighting the disease. Throughout much of Africa, there is an average of one pathologist per 2.3 million people,” reads part of the report.

Accordingly, Malawi has only one population-based cancer registry situated at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital (QECH). There are other hospital-based registries in Lilongwe and Mzuzu that highlight crucial institutional data. However, they still fall short in terms of their applicability to the community at large and for programming.

Leo Masamba, a doctor at QECH, said in a document that the country does not have a National Cancer Control Programme (NCCP) or a cancer plan that would put the country on course with the World Health Organisation’s agenda. Thus, a thoroughly set cancer control programme aiming at decreasing cancer incidents and improving the lives of cancer patients, regardless of the level of available resources.

Malawi still has very little human resource in cancer diagnosis and care. Masamba said in 2015 there were only five Malawian oncologists and haematologist in full cancer care across the country. He added that there were four pathologists in the country and two radiologists with no practicing cancer social workers.

Currently, the number of trained personnel may have increased but it still remains decimal to make a considerable difference in this critical field. Lack of guidelines and auditing also undermines the effectiveness of many clinical cancer labs. Thus, poorly trained personnel usually make incorrect diagnoses, for instance.

For more information, see;

Masamba L. (2015). Guest Editorial: The state of oncology in Malawi. Malawi Medical Journal. V. 27 (3). Pp. 77-78. Retrieved from www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4688866

Sullivan, R., Pramesh, C. S & Booth, C. M. Cancer patients need better care, not just more technology. Nature. Retrieved from www.nature.com/new/cancer-patients-need-better-care-not-just-technology-1.22644