Zambia reaffirms commitment to strengthen early cancer diagnosis

LUSAKA, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Zambia on Friday joined the rest of the world in commemorating World Cancer Awareness Month with the government re-affirming its commitment to fight the disease through strengthening early diagnosis as a preventive measure.

Minister of Health Sylvia Masebo said the government has prioritized cancer prevention and control in its quest to attain universal health coverage by expanding control programs.

She said that this year's theme, "Increasing Equitable Access to Cancer Care through Enhanced Early Diagnosis to Save Lives" reaffirms the government's resolve to increase access to cancer care for all patients, and is a call for action through personal commitment and individual action to seek health services through screening and accessing treatment.

"In Zambia, cancer continues to be a significant public health problem that is negatively affecting our social and economic well-being. Every year cancer robs our country of a vibrant and productive workforce through cancer-associated illness and death," she said.

According to figures from the Ministry of Health, Zambia sees on average a total of 13,831 new cases per year and 8,672 cancer patients die every year, with cervical cancer being the commonest cancer seen.

The minister said the government has completed the second national cancer control strategic plan to run from 2022 to 2026 which was currently under review by the World Health Organization (WHO) and will soon be ready for approval.

The plan, she said, spells out the government's response to eliminate cervical cancer and control other cancers through early diagnosis and treatment.

She further said that the government was revamping the country's only Cancer Disease Hospital based in Lusaka, the country's capital, through the purchase of a new linear accelerator machine used for radiography as well as acquiring new radioactive sources for two radiotherapy machines that have not been working for the past two years.

According to her, this will increase treatment capacity, as currently, only 3,000 cancer cases receive treatment out of around 13,800 new cases reported each year.