Published by the government of Zimbabwe
10 September 2007
Harare — ZIMBABWE faces a big challenge in the fight against cancer which is not being given much attention due to inadequate resources, Health and Child Welfare Minister Dr David Parirenyatwa has said.
In an interview yesterday, Dr Parirenyatwa said cancer had emerged as one of the most deadly killer diseases in Africa, with Kaposi's sarcoma being the most common in people with HIV/Aids.
"It has emerged that cancer is one disease that is seriously arising on the region but underfunded due to lack of adequate resources," said the minister.
He said there was an acute shortage of facilities for cancer therapy, chemotherapy and radiotherapy, cancer experts, pathologists and oncologists in the region.
Zimbabwe, like other countries in the region, was seriously experiencing Kaposi's sarcoma, a cancer that is related to HIV and Aids.
The cancer affects the skin. It also affects the mucus membrane and causes swelling of legs.
Dr Parirenyatwa said in Zimbabwe breast cancer and cancer of the cervix were common among women, prostate cancer was common in men and Wilm's tumour in children.
"Cancer was declared a public health problem in Africa and countries must have cancer registries and I am proud to say that Zimbabwe has since 1985 had a cancer register operating," he said.
"We were advised to come up with systematic implementation of evidence-based strategies for prevention, early detection, diagnosis and treatment," he said.
He said his ministry has made available cytotoxic drugs and is working very hard to improve radiotherapy conditions.
Dr Parirenyatwa last month attended the 57th World Health Organisation regional committee for Africa in Brazzaville, Congo, along with 46 other health ministers from across the continent.
The conference, he said, discussed various issues ranging from male circumcision, resurgence of cholera in Africa, diabetes to harmful use of alcohol.
Dr Parirenyatwa said cholera situation on the continent was also worsening.
"Participants emphasised the need for immediate multi-sectoral plans to deal with this resurgence in a co-ordinated manner.
"The major concern raised was that cholera was occurring more frequently in the region. The provisions that the committee came up with were that there must be regional co-operation of countries and provision for safe drinking water and appropriate sanitation.
"Zimbabwe, as a starting point, is planning to sign an agreement with South Africa, Mozambique and, with time, the rest of the Sadc nations on how best to combat the disease. Apart from that, we have always had strong mechanisms for fighting cholera," he said.
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