NINETY-nine percent of cancer patients in Zimbabwe cannot
afford treatment which is only accessible from private institutions as
Government- run hospitals have no functional radiotherapy machines.
Briefing members of the Senate Thematic Committee on Gender
during a tour in Bulawayo recently, Mpilo Central Hospital head of radiotherapy
department Dr Tatenda Chingonzoh said the situation was dire.
She added that the most affected patients were the ones who
were already on treatment as interrupted treatment was more detrimental than
not starting at all. Mpilo last offered radiotherapy in November last year
which forced patients to travel to Harare.
However, one of the three working machines in Harare has
since broken down leaving patients stranded.
“We have managed to see 769 patients for the first quarter
in 2019 but the sad thing is that we can only offer diagnostic services as our
machines are always down. The situation is very sad because for some time we
used to refer patients to Harare but now that all machines are down, 99 percent
of cancer patients will suffer as they cannot afford private health care,” said
Dr Chingonzoh.
She told Senators that despite the availability of other
cancer treatment services like chemotherapy, members of the public were still
forced to source US dollars to buy medication from pharmacies due to shortages
in hospitals.
“Last year in November one of the machines broke down for
four days after it was fixed due to a power outage and this put those already
on treatment at risk. When we use radiotherapy to attack cancer cells they tend
to come back more aggressively once treatment is interrupted,” Dr Chingonzoh
said.
Radiotherapy treatment uses high doses of radiation to kill
cancer cells and shrink tumours and it also damages the DNA within cancer
cells.
Officials said repairs will cost US$63 000 for the machine
at Mpilo while the one at Parirenyatwa needs US$60 000.
The Minister of Health and Child Care, Dr Obadiah Moyo,
could not be reached for comment but last month during a tour at Mpilo, he said
all was in place to restore the service.
“We are happy that there is progress to install the
uninterrupted power supply batteries as a long term solution to the problem
because most of these breakdowns are due to power cuts.
“The contractors said they would not do anything until the
installation and there is progress towards the reintroduction of radiotherapy,”
said Dr Moyo. Chronicle
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