Lack of skilled personnel hindering cancer fight

An old radiotherapy machine. FILE PHOTO

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Difficult. Amuru District also lacks a cancer machine to diagnose and detect cancer cells at an early stage for early management and treatment.

AMURU. Several health centres in Amuru District and across the Acholi Sub-region cannot carry out cancer diagnosis due to inadequate specialised manpower, health experts in Amuru District have warned.
According to Mr Francis Okongo, the palliative care specialist at St Mary’s Hospital Lacor, Atiak Sub-county, Amuru District, there is inadequate skilled health personnel.

He said the district also lacks a cancer machine to diagnose and detect cancer cells at an early stage for early management and treatment.
“It is through the community outreach programmes that we are able to diagnose these cancers, otherwise at the district health facilities, the health team cannot do much since it is incapacitated,” Mr Okongo said.

He said patients are being referred to other health centres for diagnosis and treatment.
“In some instances, we have village health teams in place, who are trained on the early symptoms and they have also been helpful in carrying out referrals in case they detect cancer-like symptoms among the population,” he said.
Amos Kitara, 13, was lucky to attend a community outreach that was conducted by St Mary’s Hospital Lacor.
This was after he developed a swelling on the face.

According to his grandmother, Alice Akullu, the swelling kept increasing in size.
“I applied traditional herbs hoping for a change but in vain. I reached out to health centres thinking the child had a toothache that had resulted into a swelling but there was little help given,” she says.
When he attended the camp, the first diagnosis showed he had Burkitt lymphoma cancer, which is common in children.
Lymphoma is a type of cancer of the lymphatic system.

It affects a type of white blood cells known as lymphocytes that helps to fight disease in the body and they also play an important role in the immune system.
Burkitt lymphoma can occur at any age, but it is one of the most common causes of cancer in children below the age of 15. It is often treatable if detected early.
Outreaches are carried out on a quarterly basis where between 10 and 200 people are screened. Some times three to five cases are confirmed as cancer.

Statistics at St Mary’s Hospital Lacor show that children suffer most from Lymphoma Burkitt’s cancer, which is at 80 per cent, Wilms Tumour at 6 per cent and Leukemia at 4 per cent.
Mr Ronald Odong, officer-in-charge of the Burkitt lymphoma room at the hospital, said children with Burkitt lymphoma die quickly if not put on chemotherapy early.

“We are happy that 10 children completed their treatment cycles and have recovered,” Mr Odong said
In March, St Mary’s Hospital Lacor, in partnership with Afron-Oncology for Africa, SOLETERRE, and Alcli-Associazione onlus, all non-governmental organisations, launched an awareness campaign on Burkitt lymphoma.
The campaign dubbed ABLE - Awareness for Burkitt’s lymphoma Eradication, is geared towards creating awareness among women and children as a preventive measure of fighting cancer.

The one-year pilot campaign started in Atiak Sub-county, Amuru District and Awach Sub-county in Gulu District.
Other common cancers in the sub-region include cervical cancer, which is common among women compared to other cancers in the region.
Statistics show that cervical cancer accounts for 60 per cent of the cancer cases in the districts of Gulu, Amuru, Omoro, and Nwoya.

In males, some of the common cancers include liver and prostrate cancer.
Between 2013 and 2017, at least 2,500 people died of cancer in Acholi region alone. This means between 400 and 500 people die of cancer-related cases annually.

The Amuru District health officer, Dr Patrick Odongo Olwedo, told Daily Monitor on Monday that due to lack of manpower at the only health centre IV in the district, in most cases they carry out referrals for suspected cancer cases.
“We can carry out clinical diagnosis and it’s on that basis that we refer such patients to hospitals such as St Mary’s Hospital Lacor and Gulu Regional Referral Hospital for further management,” he said.

He added that the routine screening at St Mary’s Hospital Lacor has also been useful in identifying especially cervical cancer.

CANCER
The children. Statistics at St Mary’s Hospital Lacor show that children suffer most from Burkitt lymphoma cancer, which is at 80 per cent, Wilms Tumour at 6 per cent and Leukemia at 4 per cent.
Recognised as the fastest growing human tumor, Burkitt lymphoma is associated with impaired immunity and is rapidly fatal if left untreated.