KAMPALA– 33, 000 Ugandans are diagnosed with cancer every year, according to Uganda Cancer Institute [UCI], which warns that 21, 300 of the total number of patients diagnosed with the disease die in the same period.
UCI says only 7,400 of the total number of patients diagnosed with cancer every year make it for care.
UCI in a press statement for September 1, 2022, says 10 million people around the world die from cancer.
“It is estimated that 70 percent of cancer deaths occur in low-and middle-income countries,” UCI says adding that by 2030, cancer deaths around the world will rise to 13 million people.
UCI says barriers like lack of transport, cost of care, lodging, gender norms, discrimination, stigma, and geographical divide hinder cancer patients from accessing care at health facilities.
“These barriers lead to wide disparities in cancer survival between high-income and low-income countries but also between rural and urban areas,” UCI says.
UCI mentions that the breasts, cervix and prostate are the most body parts attacked by cancer, with women being in more danger compared to men since they serve from both breast cancer and cancer of the cervix.
However, UCI says the chances of surviving breast cancer can be above 90 percent if a woman is screened regularly and the cancer is detected in the early stages.
UCI says older people are more affected by cancer as they are not included in clinical trials. “Older people tend to get less care…in cancer.”
UCI notes that women living in rural areas face long distances to travel to a care centre that provides screening and must often take time off work or find support for childcare in order to do so. “This means she only presents herself when the cancer has advanced enough and becomes difficult to treat. Consequently, 2-year survival from breast cancer in Uganda is just about 56 percent,” UCI says.
UCI deliberate steps, such as the National Cancer Control Plan, are being taken to tackle the cancer challenge in Uganda.
According to UCI, the plan is to be implemented under seven pillars such as; health promotion and cancer prevention, early detection, diagnosis and treatment, palliative care, cancer survivorship, cancer surveillance and research, policy and advocacy, special populations-refugees, albinos.
UCI says regional cancer centres are being set up in Arua, Gulu, Mbarara, and Mbale, as well as expanding UCI from a 120-bed to 365-bed capacity. Other interventions would be to expand UCI clinical laboratory, setting up a biorepository, expanding radiotherapy services, bone marrow transplant, and establishment of a nuclear medicine facility.
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