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Zimbabwe is still lagging behind in terms of spreading awareness about screening, early diagnosis and treatment of childhood cancer, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said.
New WHO country representative, Dr Jean Dangoua said this during the International Childhood Cancer Day commemorations in Harare on Thursday.
In a speech read on his behalf by the organisation’s Lead Cluster (Universal Health Coverage-Non-Communicable Diseases), Dr. Anderson Chimusoro, said:
“We want to encourage and request government to increase efforts in raising awareness of childhood cancers so that mothers can take their children for screening much earlier. We also want to encourage the government to ensure that children everywhere in Zimbabwe have access to cancer management services by capacitating the primary and secondary care levels for screening of childhood cancers and referring quickly for diagnosis and treatment.”
Dr. Danguoa lauded government’s training of specialists for cancer and encouraged other stakeholders involved to continue supporting cancer programmes with funding.
He said most childhood cancers can be cured with generic medicines and other forms of treatment, including surgery and radiotherapy, through their investments.
Representing Health Secretary Air Jasper Commodore Chimedza, Dr. Maxwell Hove Chief Director Curative Services in the ministry, said government was making strides towards early detection of diseases like cancer, which is vital for early treatment.
He said government was currently constructing Queenile University in Harare to offer a new level of care above central hospitals.
“This is an advanced level of research, development and advanced specialist care. It is our generational responsibility that children have access to that kind of advanced care. We want to bring these sectors of excellence for managing these advanced diseases that we are sending to St Jude University in the United States. We want to do everything here instead of sending people to countries like India, Europe or South Africa.
“It’s not a luxury, Covid-19 came and demonstrated that if you do not do that for yourselves, you will go into extinction as a nation. Research has to be done locally to find solutions that we can share with the world. That is why we have come up with this new structure,” he said.
“In collaboration with our partners, we want to make sure that we produce the medicine and vaccines here. It is very difficult, and the treatment of cancer is still very expensive because advanced technology is needed.We appreciate what KidzCan is doing. We really applaud the work that you are doing with St Jude and other partners that are coming up to provide this kind of service to the children of Zimbabwe,” Dr Hove added.
Pediatric health expert Professor Inam Chitsike also lauded government’s efforts to start funding early diagnosis and treatment of childhood cancer.
“For the first time in the history of this country, the Ministry of Health and Child Care has encorporated childhood cancer in the national cancer control programme which is an obligation of government. Unfortunately, children were not part of this programme. This programme encapsulates prevention, early detection, diagnosis and treatment and rehabilitative care. This calls for strong political commitment, technical and practical leadership as well as significant investment,” she said.
The commemorations coincided with the showcasing of KidzCan Zimbabwe’s ‘Rainbow Village’, a shelter for children with cancer in Harare’s Belgravia area.
KidzCan, is a non-profit organisation focusing on supporting pediatric cancer and cancer-related blood disorders in Zimbabwe.
Supporting corporates, Delta Corporation and Premier Auto promised more resource support to KidzCan Zimbabwe, which they have been fulfilling for a long time.
Delta Corporation Corporate Affairs Executive, Patricia Murambinda the entity was now focussed on providing clean water and support for mothers of children with cancer.
“We will coninue supporting KidzCan and we have done so for over 20 years. Our main thrust as Delta and partnership with Kidzcan is to take care of one of our key sustainability pillars, which is water stewardship. What we have done in the past two years is to make sure that our children coming from disadvantaged backgrounds get clean water at schools.”
“We are here to support those women as Delta. Count on us from now,” she said.
Premier Auto Marketing Manager, Tashinga Gomera said they will continue supporting KidzCan for their sterling work “to increase the survival rate and ensure the utmost quality of life for children with cancer in a caring environment”.
Before donating food hampers to KidzCan, Gomera said Premier Auto aims to continue their longstanding relationship with KidzCan and will support them in any way with the invaluable work that they do.
“We are committed to growing our business responsibly with a heart for the community. We believe in adding value to every community in which we operate, by having a positive social impact. We live up to our brand promise that Jaguar Land Rover is in its full essence.’’
“We believe that here at KidsCan we have defenders of tomorrow. Premier Auto have been with KidsCan for a very long time and moving forward, we want to maintain this relationship and support every other child who goes through the cancer relief programme,” Gomera said.
KidzCan Executive Director Daniel McKenzie expressed his gratitude to all partners and stakeholders for financing the completion of the first phase of the Rainbow Village while appealing for more funding to complete the remaining phases.
“With more funding we can complete the remaining two phases, hopefully, between March and November,” International Childhood Cancer Day is a global collaborative campaign to raise awareness about childhood cancer, and to express support for children and adolescents with cancer, the survivors and their families.
This year’s theme focused on paying tribute to the families and caregivers and the positive impact they have on the lives of children and adolescents with cancer. Nhau/Indaba
