CELEBRATING CHRISTMAS IN October- cancer screening can save your life

Leaving the sanitation series at a standstill, Monday; this week was 31st October in case you don’t remember. That was the last day of the 2016 cancer awareness month; the question is, what did you do in that period? That might not be the right question though. Why do we even have the cancer awareness month?

Globally, there is an increasing burden of cancer; the disease killing more people compared to HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis all combined. Over 12.7 million new cancer cases and 7.6 million cancer deaths occurred in 2008, with 56% of new cancer cases and 63% of the cancer deaths occurring in the less developed regions of the world; East Africa having the biggest burden. (Jacques Ferlay …et al, (2010, Estimates of worldwide burden of cancer in 2008: GLOBOCAN 2008).

According to a briefing paper released by the Budget Monitoring and Accountability Unit (BMAU) of the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development (Uganda), in May 2015, the number of patients diagnosed and treated with cancer in 2014 was 3,024, as compared to 2,037 in 2010.

Prof Henry Wabinga of the Kampala Cancer Registry; which carries out annual research, says there is a marked increase in the number of people diagnosed with cancer every year with the incidence rates being higher for prostate, breast and cervical cancers with minimal survival rates. “We registered 5.7 percent new cases of prostate cancer. For breast and cervical, it is 3.7 percent and 1.5 percent respectively. In about 20 years to come, breast cancer will be the commonest cancer among women.” Cervical cancer kills about 2,275 women annually while over 3,915 cases are newly diagnosed every year in Uganda, especially in women aged 15 to 44. (By Rachael Ninsiima, 2015, More women reel under effects of cervical cancer; Observer, published 06 May 2015)

Although cancers like cervical, breast and prostate are largely preventable through effective screening programmes, only a few individuals in Uganda conduct cancer screening. In Jinja district for example, with a population of more than 700,000 people, records obtained from the district health office show that only 168 women aged 5-59 years were screened from July 2015 to June 2016. Among these, 108 were screened for breast cancer while the 60 were screened for cervical cancer. For such a district like Jinja, the statistics imply that the biggest percentage of the population has not gone for cancer screening.

In response to the increasing cancer trends; the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) set aside October as a month dedicated to cancer awareness activities. During this month, individuals, hospitals, governments, CBOs, CSOs and NGOs among others come together and conduct activities in the fight against the disease.

Cancer does not discriminate, but it’s a global epidemic affecting people of all ages but with the right strategies, at least one out of three cancer victims can be saved. As a person, I think we don’t have to wait for October to go for cancer screening; we can celebrate Christmas in June. The truth is survival chances are more when cancer is detected early. The right question was when are you going for the screening?

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