Govt To Spend Sh1.62b On Medical Equipment

THE Government has earmarked over sh1.62b to install diagnostic equipment for head and neck cancers in all referral hospitals, reports Kikonyogo Ngatya.Dr Jacinto Amandua, the Commissioner for Clinical Services, recently said that head and neck cancers are the second most common in Uganda.Amandua was addressing an international surgeons’ training seminar in Kampala. Experts on cancer from over five African countries, with support from the University of Marburg, Germany, met to devise new ways of combating the disease.Between 70 and 80 new cases of cancer are diagnosed annually at Mulago Hospital alone. Doctors said the problem was common countrywide.“Each regional referral hospital will receive basic equipment to help in the diagnosis and better management of the cancers,” Amandua said.He said under the same strategy, school health programmes would be strengthened so that routine check-ups of students would be carried out.Mulago and Lacor hospitals are the only hospitals with facilities for the treatment of cancer. Early symptoms of head and neck cancer were described as longterm nose-bleeding, blockage in the nose, difficulty in breathing, persistent hoarseness of the throat and non-healing wounds or swellings in the head and neck region.“People should seek early diagnosis and treatment of these cancers,” Dr Gregory Tumuheirwe of Mulago Hospital said.Ends