{"id":38361,"date":"2022-10-07T20:46:21","date_gmt":"2022-10-07T20:46:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/worry-over-high-child-cancer-cases-in-acholi"},"modified":"2022-10-07T20:46:21","modified_gmt":"2022-10-07T20:46:21","slug":"worry-over-high-child-cancer-cases-in-acholi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/worry-over-high-child-cancer-cases-in-acholi","title":{"rendered":"Worry over high child cancer cases in Acholi"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Uganda. <\/strong><\/span>Public health experts are struggling to figure out a probable reason for a surge in child cases in northern Uganda.<\/p>\n

The health experts say the trend is worrying as it is exacerbated by late diagnosis, which has seen a rise in child mortality.<\/p>\n

At St Mary\u2019s Hospital, Lacor in Gulu City, the only facility in the region equipped to manage the disease, the numbers have steadily grown over the past two years, according to Dr Venice Omona, the Head of the Paediatrics Department.<\/p>\n

Between January 2021 and August 2022, Dr Omona says, the hospital received 191 children with cancer cases.<\/p>\n

Of these, 41 succumbed to the disease, while another 80 children were referred to Uganda Cancer Institute in Kampala for further management.<\/p>\n

Dr Omona says Burkitt\u2019s lymphoma is the most common cancer type found in children who visit the facility. Of the 191 recorded cases, 67 were of Burkitt\u2019s lymphoma.<\/p>\n

Burkitt\u2019s lymphoma is a rare but fast-growing cancer, which affects the jaw, central nervous system, bowel, kidneys and other organs.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the majority of cases that we detect in children, you find that one kidney is affected while one is spared. However, there are rare instances where you have children with both kidneys affected in the infection,\u201d Dr Omona says.<\/p>\n

Dr Omona says they receive children with different types of cancers of which others cannot be managed at the facility and are later referred for further management.<\/p>\n

The most common children cancers are leukaemia, brain tumours, lymphomas, neuroblastoma, kidney tumours, and malignant bone tumours<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are other types of cancers such as brain tumours and Leukaemia. Unfortunately as a hospital, we are not able to manage all these cases, so most times we take care of cases of Burkitt\u2019s lymphoma and some of the other lymphoma cases, including Wilms Tumour and Rhabdomyosarcoma,\u201d Dr Omona explains.<\/p>\n

Besides, the hospital cannot also handle the overwhelming cases.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe hospital lacks a paediatric oncologist, an expert who is specialised in dealing with children with cancers. We have the paediatricians and the medical officer managing these patients yet they need to be managed by a specialist,\u201d Dr Omona explains.<\/p>\n

Dr Omona urges government and other stakeholders to double efforts in reducing malaria prevalence since Burkitt\u2019s lymphoma is linked to malaria.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne thing that needs to be focused on is malaria prevention right from vector control because scientifically, there is a known connection between endemic Burkitt\u2019s lymphoma and malaria,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n

Malaria prevalence in northern Uganda remains worrying. A reports by the Gulu District Bio-statistician show that a total of 226,995 patients (87,374 males and 139,621 females) were diagnosed with malaria in the first quarter of the financial year 2020\/2021.<\/p>\n

Dr Kenneth Cana, the Gulu District Health Officer, attributes the surge in childhood cancer cases to various reasons ranging from genetics to viral, bacterial and parasitic causes.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the case of Burkitt\u2019s Lymphoma, we are highly suspecting malaria parasites, the mosquitoes,\u201d Dr Cana explains.<\/p>\n

READ: Let\u2019s support cause to build children\u2019s cancer hospital<\/p>\n

National outlook<\/p>\n

The Uganda Cancer Institute (UCI) says it detects at least 600 cases of cancer among children each year. Dr Joyce Balagadde Kambugu, who heads the clinical management of childhood cancer at the Institute, however, says 75 percent of children with cancer in the country are either misdiagnosed or undiagnosed. According to Dr Noleb Mugisha, the head of cancer prevention at the UCI, low diagnosis of childhood cancer is caused by what he described as uniqueness of the disease and limited awareness about it. Dr Mugisha, however, says childhood cancer is curable.<\/p>\n

According to Dr Jackson Orem, the UCI executive director, the survival of common childhood cancers have increased from 45 per cent to 75 per cent in the last 10 years.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Uganda<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Uganda. Public health experts are struggling to figure out a probable reason for a surge in child cases in northern Uganda. The health experts say the trend is worrying as it is exacerbated by late diagnosis, which has seen a rise in child mortality. 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