____________________

GULU CITY

At least 948 children with childhood cancer from the regions of West Nile, Acholi and Lango, have received free care at St Mary's Hospital Lacor in Gulu city.

Solterre, a charity trying to fight cancer in children in northern Uganda, reported that 219 children were diagnosed in 2022, 309 in 2023 and 320 this year.

According to a World Health Organisation assessment, only 30% of Uganda's 3,000 new child and adolescent cancer cases get treated in the country's centres.

Adrian Ssali, the country representative for the foundation, an Italian nonprofit that helps Lacor Hospital to treat these youngster states that through radio talk shows on cancer awareness creation and screening, they were able to locate these children suffering from cancer in the neighbourhood and bring them to the facility for treatment.

They are provided with accommodation, food, and transportation while receiving treatment at the hospital, and their medical expenditures are covered.

The bulk of these patients are believed to originate from West Nile.

Dr Martin Ogwang, the institutional director of St Mary's Hospital Lacor says most common childhood cancers treated at Lacor are Burkitt lymphoma, acute leukemia, Wilms tumour and rhabdomyosarcoma.

Partipanats of the bicycle race dancing Ajere, one of the Acholi cultural dance, during the cancer awareness creation in Gulu city. (Photo by Christopher Nyeko)

Parents partly to blame

However, Ogwang criticised the parents for the late referral of the children to the hospital. Some children come to the hospital when their cancer progresses to an irreversible level.

According to Ogwang, most parents seek help from witchdoctors, herbalists and pastors to heal their children.

However, he sees that cancer survival rates in youngsters range from 50 to 90 per cent, depending on the severity.

What needs to be done

He recommended parents to take their newborns for immunisations against hepatitis and human papillomavirus, which cause cervical cancer in women.

Ogwang also urges adults to engage in regular physical activity and eat a balanced diet. (fruit and vegetables) and avoid unhealthy habits such as smoking cigarettes and excessive alcohol use to reduce their risk of developing cancer.

Andriani Titti is the founder of AFRON. An Italian-based group that funds the cancer fight in Uganda claims that by raising awareness about cancer screening, at least 18,000 Ugandan children have been screened for cancer since 2018. Noting that they want to see cancer patients treated at an early stage.

She reveals that AFRON finances Kampala-based Nsambya Hospital and St Mary's Hospital in Lacor, St Joseph Hospital in Kitgum and Matany Hospital in Karamoja to fight childhood cancer.

Gertrude Nakigudde, a breast cancer survivor and the founder of the Uganda Women's Cancer Support Organisation, which advocates for women with cancer, says cancer patients in Uganda continue to struggle to access expedited cancer treatment facilities, citing the government's failure to prioritise cancer fighting in the country.

According Nakigudde, there is just Mulago cancer institutes with equipment and specialists (oncologists) to treat the country's overwhelming cancer patient population.

She advocates for the government to decentralise cancer management to district-level health facilities and strengthen regional cancer institutes in all subregions to ensure cancer patients receive treatment in their local area.

On Sunday, September 9, a civil society organisation dedicated to cancer prevention staged a cycling race in Gulu City to raise public awareness about cancer screening, diagnosis, and treatment. Under the theme “no more advance cancer”’.