Mungwi District Commissioner
Joyce Chanda advocates the need to educate the masses on the s signs and
symptom of cancer and other ailments and the importance to seek early medical
attention in order to effectively treat diseases.
Ms Chanda said early detection of
diseases such as Cervical and Breast cancer which affects women would help to
serve them from dying once they were put on early treatment.
The District Commissioner said
women and adolescent girls between 15-49 years needed to be informed adequately
about the symptoms of cancer for them to make informed decisions over their
health.
The District Commissioner said
this during the commemoration of the World Cancer Day held at Ngoli Health
Centre in Mungwi over the weekend.
She called on the Ministry of
Health and its collaborating partners to focus more on the sensitisation of the
community on the signs and symptoms of cancer.
Ms Chanda added that awareness
was critical to the fight against cancer in Zambia.
Ms Chanda however acknowledged
challenges faced by the government and Ministry of Health in particular in the
provision of appropriate equipment for cancer treatment in all major hospitals in
the country.
She added that training of health
workers in the management of cancer ailments in the country was a priority of
the government.
Speaking at the same occasion,
Mungwi District Medical Officer Wezi Sunkuntu said cancer related ailments were
serious non-communicable diseases affecting many people in Zambia and the world
today.
Dr. Sunkuntu revealed that from
2004 Cervical cancer, Eye and Breast cancer as well as Kaposis Sakoma have been
the common diseases in the world.
He further said that in 2001, 11
million new cases of cancer were recorded and 8 million people have since died
from the disease while 24 million people are living with the disease in the
world.
Dr Sunkutu said developing
countries such as Zambia account for about 72 percent of cancer related deaths
hence the need to double the efforts to combat the disease.
ZANIS
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