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HEALTH EAGER TO MAKE CANCER WARD FUNCTIONAL AT QMMH

Following the Minister of Health’s tour at Queen Mamohato Memorial Hospital (QMMH) last week, the Director-General of Health Services, Dr ‘Nyane Letsie showed the cancer ward within the hospital.

The initiative to establish the cancer ward is to treat cancer patients in order to eliminate referrals.

Dr Letsie referral of cancer patients costs the Government of Lesotho millions of Maloti a year for referrals to Bloemfontein and this put a strain on an already financially burdened health system.

She said the initial purpose of the QMMH was to function as a national referral hospital hence the reason the cancer ward was built but it is unfortunate that it has never worked due to financial constraints and other issues of Netcare, adding that QMMH is fully in the hands of the Ministry of Health hence their wish is to make sure that the ward functions.

She noted that though the ward does not have much equipment, it has the essentials which include a machine that mixes medicine for cancer patients, chemotherapy section, commenting that it was going to be an easy road for Lesotho to at least meet some cancer requirements treatment.

”Lesotho currently spends almost US$7 million a year sending its cancer patients to South Africa and India for treatment and care. This is a major scourge for our country and we have lost many lives due to cancer because of the lack of a radiotherapy facility,’ she said.

Dr Letsie said cancer is increasingly both a health and development issue for many low and middle-income countries, with a growing number of cases putting more pressure on the government and family resources.

She remarked that now with the COVID-19 prevailing situation, it gets even harder to extend the budget for such cancer patients, saying this is saddening to see people suffering.

She said the government implemented a robust cervical cancer prevention and control programme to ensure that the country was on the track to join the world in achieving the elimination of cervical cancer by 2030.

“Lesotho has started strengthening the primary prevention efforts by planning for national re-introduction of the HPV vaccine for the nine to 14-year-old girls from 2022. Moreover, screening services are now available at all health facilities in the country,” she noted.

Cervical cancer is the most common cancer in Lesotho, with 40-49-year-old persons accounting for 40.9 percent of all cancers. Cervical cancer is followed by breast cancer (18 percent), prostate cancer (13.5 percent), skin cancer (12.6 percent), lung cancer (no estimates and commonly found on autopsy) and leukemia/lymphomas (no estimates).

Source: LENA 28/09/2021

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