Cancer care should be treated as a human rights priority — UHRC
According to Kaheru, greater public awareness could encourage people to seek screening and treatment before the disease advances, helping to reduce preventable deaths and the financial and emotional burden on families.
UHRC Commissioner Crispin Kaheru said Uganda is facing a growing cancer burden, with about 36,000 new cases and more than 24,000 deaths recorded annually.
Uganda should treat access to cancer prevention, diagnosis and treatment as a human rights priority, the Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC) has said.
UHRC Commissioner Crispin Kaheru said Uganda is facing a growing cancer burden, with about 36,000 new cases and more than 24,000 deaths recorded annually.
Women account for about 55% of the cases, with cervical cancer leading among women and prostate cancer among men.
Kaheru made the call while citing findings in the 2025 UHRC Annual Human Rights Report, which highlights barriers preventing many Ugandans from accessing timely and affordable cancer care.
He said late diagnosis, high treatment costs, stigma, a shortage of specialists and the concentration of cancer services in urban areas were leaving many Ugandans, particularly those in rural and low-income communities, at greater risk.
Kaheru called for cancer screening, diagnosis and treatment services to be decentralised so that people do not have to travel long distances to access care.
Kaheru further called for affordable cancer medicines and treatment to reduce the financial burden on patients and their families.
He urged the Government and health stakeholders to strengthen public awareness about cancer prevention, early detection and available treatment options.
According to Kaheru, greater public awareness could encourage people to seek screening and treatment before the disease advances, helping to reduce preventable deaths and the financial and emotional burden on families.
The commissioner also highlighted the need to address inequalities in access to specialised healthcare, particularly outside major urban centres.
He urged policymakers to view cancer control not only as a health-sector challenge but also as a human rights and equity issue requiring sustained investment.
He reported that government has increased investment in cancer services over the past decade, compared to about Shs300 million that had previously been allocated to the sector.
Government, he added, has begun decentralising cancer treatment to reduce the burden on the Uganda Cancer Institute in Kampala.
“We have now started decentralising it to regional level,” he said, noting that the first regional oncology centre in Gulu was complete.
Other regional cancer centres are planned for West Nile, Mbale and Mbarara, while additional facilities are also expected to increase the number of radiotherapy machines available in the country.
The minister said the expansion of regional centres was intended to ensure that patients from distant parts of the country no longer have to travel to Kampala for treatment.
“Instead of everybody coming from Kisoro, Koboko, Kanungu to Kampala to seek cancer services, we have now started decentralising it to regional level,” he said.
Dr. Ayume also highlighted prevention, including HPV vaccination for girls aged 10 to protect them against cervical cancer later in life, as well as efforts to address lifestyle and environmental risk factors.