Natuhwera acted a film on cancer and later died of same disease

What you need to know:

The late Brighton Natuhwera is the fourth-born of the six children of the late Patrick Muhanguzi and Mable Komujuni of Nyabubaare Sub-county, Bushenyi District.
Experience. This month we commiserate with cancer patients, celebrate with the survivors, and call upon everybody to go for screening because early detection saves lives. Today, we focus on Brighton Natuhwera who acted a movie on cancer awareness in 2015 but died of the same disease three years later. Her brother, Bless Naturinda, recounts Natuhwera’s final three years on earth.

“Brighton Natuhwera was a jovial, hardworking woman who often sought practical solutions to her problems and her life’s dreams.
In 2015, Natuhwera, 24 at the time, quit her job as an accountant to chase her dream as an actress and a filmmaker.

In 2015, she disclosed to me, our siblings and our mother, Mable Komujuni, that she was going to produce a film about cancer. Her argument was that one of her friends, who had been diagnosed with cervical cancer, had gone through a lot of challenges fighting the disease. Natuhwera, therefore, said in the movie, she would highlight the plight of cancer victims.
She also revealed that she would co-produce the movie with Mr Aaron Zziwa, a movie director.

Life went on normally thereafter and she could update us on the progress of the film production. The film premiered in October 2015 and most family members attended.
The movie titled Wako was a success. It featured Wako, a 23-year- old girl who struggles to find Shs15 million to meet hospital bills for her sister who is battling cervical cancer.
The movie was voted Best Feature Film of the year 2015 at the Arusha International Film Festival in Tanzania.

This inspired Natuhwera to start a production company called Brina Motion Pictures where she told us that her focus would be on script writing and film production. She juggled this with a mobile money business.
Everything was going according to plan for Natuhwera until October 2017 when she started complaining about illness. She would get treated in different medical facilities but her poor health persisted.
Because Natuhwera was a devoted Christian, at one moment she sought divine intervention from a Pentecostal pastor, who told her she had been bewitched. He then prayed for her and said that she had been healed.

However, she remained in poor health, a situation which did not improve despite visiting several health facilities. I suspected that my sister was having a chronic illness and I took her to several hospitals that included Kibuli, Mengo, and Mulago.
Natuhwera would sometimes be admitted to hospital for more than a week, with doctors telling us she had typhoid and malaria, among other diseases.
Amid all this, she remained strong and jolly, playing it normal but I could see pain in her eyes as we struggled to look for money to treat her.

Having found no permanent solution to her condition, in April 2018, we went to a private health facility in Kitebi, a city suburb, called Bismillah Hospital where a doctor, whose name I do not recall, took her medical history. He then conducted several tests and told us to pick the results after a week. When we returned, he told us that Natuhwera had cervical cancer.
To erase any doubt, the doctor advised us to do a confirmatory test at Mulago hospital. In May 2018, at Kiruddu Hospital, one Dr Ssempebwa confirmed to us that Natuhwera had cervical cancer, which had already spread to other parts of the body.

This was one of the darkest days in a family. Our mother found it hard to accept. But Natuhwera remained strong and told us not to worry, remarking, “God will heal me and if He wants me, He will take me”.
At this time, we received a lot of advice from different people on how to treat cancer, including herbal medicine. What I remember is that she refused anything to do with herbal medicine and she requested to visit Church whenever she felt like.
We then started visiting Kiruddu Hospital as had been advised by the doctor for counselling and treatment. She had not yet been subjected to chemotherapy as the doctor had advised.
As we looked for money to start her on medication, Natuhwera’s condition worsened in August 2018 and she was admitted to Kiruddu Hospital.

On August 8, 2018, while on her sickbed, Natuhwera asked me to call all her friends so that she would thank them and bid farewell. She looked strong and I held her hands to tell her that she would be fine.
She again asked for a Bible and she told me that she was going to serve God. Natuhwera then asked for milk and after taking it, she asked me that take care of our mother and breathed her last.”

Natuhwera’s brief bio
The late Brighton Natuhwera is the fourth-born of the six children of the late Patrick Muhanguzi and Mable Komujuni of Nyabubaare Sub-county, Bushenyi District.
She went to Nyabiteete Primary School, Nkumba High School, Entebbe, for her O-Level and Plus Two High School in Bushenyi for A-Level. She went to YMCA, Wandegeya in Kampala for a diploma in Business Administration, graduating in early 2014. She featured in an advert for Platform for Labour Action, an NGO that fights for workers’ rights.

Common cancers
Cancer in HIV patients
Kaposi’s sarcoma
Aids associated lymphomas
Children and youth
Burkitt’s Lymphoma
Retinoblastoma
Leukaemia
Lymphoma
Breast cancer
Gastrointestinal cancer
Oesophageal cancer
Gastric cancer
Liver cancer
Pancreatic cancer
Gall bladder cancer
Colorectal cancer
Anal cancer
Head and Neck cancer
Thyroid cancer
Ovarian cancer
Endometrial cancer
Lung cancer
Prostate cancer
Renal cancer
Bladder cancer
Testicular cancer
Penile cancer
Skin cancer.

Challenges. The Uganda Cancer Institute is currently faced with a challenge of inadequate diagnostic equipment, with most of the tests done in private facilities outside the hospital. This costs patients large amounts of money. For example, the institute’s main radiotherapy machine performs below capacity, not withstanding breaking down on regular occasions.

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