District medical officer urged to join cancer fight

About 80% of cancer patients in Africa are diagnosed at advanced stages of the disease which leaves the patients with little chances of survival and the only choice of treatment is pain relief.

This is as a result of weak health systems especially in Sub-Saharan Africa, inadequate training of health care providers and cultural perceptions about pain which create a web of barriers that keep safe and effective opioid analgesics out of reach of more than a million people with treatable pain.

According to Prof. Chang Young Kim, an expert in cancer related diseases from the University of Chonbuk in the Republic of Korea, lack of screening and early detection services as well as limited awareness of early signs and symptoms of cancer are the major challenges facing cancer patients in Africa.

The revelations were made during a one day capacity building training workshop organized by the Korea Aid project with funding from the Korean Republic for district medical teams of Mpigi, Iganga and Kamuli districts to improve their skills in general surgery and orthopaedics which took place at Protea Hotel, Kampala on Tuesday.

Prof. Chang said the cancer burden in Africa is worsened by the changes in diet and life style and lower burden of communicable diseases.

In Africa, cancers related to infectious agents like cervix, Kaposi, sarcoma, urinary bladder are among the dominant types.

Chang called on district medical workers to always advise people to go for cancer vaccination and also improve on hygiene and sanitation around areas where people live.

The country director Korea Aid Project in Uganda, Kim Sang Chul, argued those who took part in the training to take interest in the prevention of cancer and promised that the Korea Republic shall continue supporting the Ugandan government in its fight against Cancer.