Young child who is suffering from Burkitts Lymphoma, one of the most common childhood cancers in Uganda
It may be hard to believe that cancer can be a major problem in countries with high rates of infant mortality, malnutrition and infectious diseases. However, recent research has revealed that nothing could be farther from the truth. Cancer is increasingly common among African children and adults alike.
It may be hard to believe that cancer can be a major problem in countries with high rates of infant mortality, malnutrition and infectious diseases. However, recent research has revealed that nothing could be farther from the truth. Cancer is increasingly common among African children and adults alike.
This has been compounded by the exponential spread of HIV over the past few decades. The rates of some cancers have increased substantially in many African regions since the start of the HIV epidemic. I will discuss the relationship between HIV infection and cancer in another post.
Although significant resources have been applied to combating HIV, malaria, TB, poverty and malnutrition, little has been done to explore or address the problem of cancer in Africa. This is especially evident East African. Uganda, for example has a population of over 31 million people and only two practising oncologists. Contrast this with my home town Aberdeen which has a population of about 250,000 people and two appointed oncologists (data from RCP London, click here). Uganda's 2 oncologists do not have the time to collect data about cancer diagnosed by non-specialist doctors. UCRF will meet this need with the help of volunteers, a team that I will be joining this summer. I have a love for this challenging work because it will involve reviewing papers, which I hope will have an added benefit of highlighting the value of keeping accurate records.
As a consequence, even patients with curable cancers go untreated. This is due to a combination of their inability to afford diagnostic tests, basic chemotherapy or even pain-relieving medications and a scarcity of both human and medical resources. This not only causes an inordinate amount of individual suffering but also is an increasing burden on society.
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For more information about cancer and a link to where some of the statistics came from please click here
This sounds like it will be a challenging, but exciting project. Do you know what the commonest cancers are? Can the cancer the child in picture has be cured? I will follow your journey.
ReplyDeleteThank you very much for following my journey. At the moment, there is no accurate data as regards to the incidence of the types of Cancer for the whole of Uganda, which is why UCRF are going to be carrying out their pilot cancer survey this summer. The child in the picture has got Burkitt's Lymphoma, which if caught early enough is curable. Total treatment costs for Burkitt's Lymphoma is about $100.
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