AfricaPress-Tanzania: ZANZIBAR’s Second-Vice President Hemed Suleiman Abdulla has launched the newly registered ‘Tanzania Oncology Society (TOS)’, which is aimed at supporting the planned nationwide mass cancer screening.
The TOS president Dr Jerry Ndumbalo informed participants in a one-day meeting here that mass screening is one of its future plans in the fight against increasing cancer problems in the country.
“Health promotion which covers mass screening and diagnosis in different regions scheduled for May this year is one of our plans after the society was registered in December 2020. We need stakeholders’ support to succeed,” Dr Ndumbalo said.
During the meeting held at Verde Hotel, the TOS president mentioned other planned activities as having intensive public awareness; publication of an annual ‘Tanzania cancer conference’ in every October; production of ‘Tanzania cancer journal’; and Training of health professionals on how to deal with cancer patients in rural areas.
The TOS General Secretary, who is also an oncologist at the Ocean Road Hospital in Dar es Salaam, Dr Caroline Swai said the planned activities in the country would help in fighting cancer and promote early reporting of the problem.
She said there have been delays in reporting the problem due to unawareness and ignorance among health practitioners at a lower level as well as the public at large.
Briefing the attendees on the oncology situation in Tanzania, Prof Twalib Ngoma, a renowned oncologist in the country said the current situation and the future of the cancer in the country cautioning that non communicable disease including cancer will take over communicable diseases by 2030.
He praised the Union Government for doing a lot in improving cancer treatment in the country which includes an increase of cancer ‘specialists’ from four in 1980s to 50 by 2020.
Prof Ngoma mentioned that the ‘national cancer control strategy (NCCS), 2013-2022 action plan’ was among the successes recorded, but advised having a multidisciplinary approach in addressing the problem.
“Let us strengthen and improve cancer services in all regional referral hospitals; members of the public should be encouraged to go for early screening; maintain and improve NHIF to cover cancer treatment; and promote cancer research,” Prof Ngoma advised.
