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Uganda Cancer Institute plans to roll out palliative care for cancer patients to medical workers.

This comes at a time when the cases of cancer cases are on the rise across the country.
While addressing surgeons at the Northern Uganda Cancer Centre in Gulu City recently, Dr Martin Origa, a specialist in cancer for female reproductive system at the institute, said he believes continued medical education on palliative care will also help to manage expectations of patients, ease referral pathways and make the health workers follow right medical procedures.

“There are so many patients nowadays and this involves a lot of planning before radiation," he said.

"We are developing a curriculum for uro-oncology training in thematic areas of surgical uro-oncology and intervention radiology to improve on patient care."

Origa said the training will see the team from the Uganda Cancer Institute get trained before rolling it to other facilities such as Mulago National Specialized Hospital, regional referral hospitals, and selected medical facilities that handle cancer.

Dr Ojara Sande, the medical director of St. Mary’s Hospital in Gulu city, said it is a step in the right direction because currently, there is a surge in cancer of the cervix, breast, prostate, and liver, among others. 

This has put a lot of burden on the region where medical workers should be trained in care for cancer patients.

Dr Ann Mary Gleason, an oncologist working at Lacor Hospital, thinks mechanism of prevention should be prioritized as part of medical education to health workers, which should also be extended to the community.

Dr Pamela Atim, the executive director St Joseph’s Hospital, Kitgum, said they have been screening for breast and cervical cancer.

For cases they have not been able to manage, they have made referrals to Lacor or Uganda Cancer Institute in Kampala. 

According to Atim, new cancer cases are registered during antenatal where expectant mothers are subjected to compulsory screening during their first visit.

Prof. David Kitara Lagoro of Gulu University implored the Uganda Cancer Institute to carry out more research and pick interest in prevention mechanisms.

In Uganda, an estimated 33,000 Ugandans are diagnosed with cancer every year, of which only about 7,400 make it for care at the Uganda Cancer Institute.

The age-standardized incidence rates for all cancers combined were 109.9 and 91.9 per 100,000 in males and females, respectively. In males, the most commonly diagnosed cancers were prostate, esophagus, stomach, Kaposi's sarcoma, and liver.

Challenges faced by cancer patients in Uganda result in enormous delays in the initiation and continuation of cancer treatment. 

These challenges are often a result of the poor socioeconomic status of the patients, inadequate infrastructure for cancer care, and inefficiencies in the health care system.