Cancer charges are double jeopardy to the patients

On Thursday, this newspaper published a story that the Uganda Cancer Institute (UCI), the only provider of radiotherapy treatment in the country, has started charging Shs300,000 for patients seeking the critically needed service which was previously provided free-of-charge.
The money, according to the memo issued by the UCI management, will cater for all the 25 radiotherapy sessions on average. However, patients on private arrangement will pay a much higher fee of Shs500,000 while international patients are charged $2,000 (about Shs7.4m) for the same.
Cancer has become a growing concern to many in the country and globally and it is a disease that is not discriminative, and in many cases its treatment takes a long time and is pocket draining, and strains the patients financially and emotionally. So imposing charges on the cancer patients to access treatment is going to be double jeopardy. Many of the cancer patients are terminally ill and the medication they receive sometimes stresses them.
True, Uganda Cancer Institute needs to be resourced for purposes of maintenance. But also this facility is a referral hospital where many patients are from impoverished settings and may not be able to pay up for their treatment. Government should instead come up with two wings, one that takes care of the disadvantaged patients and the other wing for the affluent.
Else, cancer diagnosis is destined to become a death sentence, especially for those who cannot afford to pay the fees. Already, services at UCI have not been entirely free of charge given the rampant stock out of chemotherapy drugs which require patients to part with Shs220,000 to Shs700,000 per week on average. The drugs are always given in combination with radiotherapy for better treatment outcomes.
Majority of these patients are peasants who are already struggling to meet transport fares from different parts of the country to UCI, which is the only health facility with a cobalt 60 radiotherapy machine in the country, purchased using taxpayers’ money.
It is, therefore, disheartening to see that the same patients who keep lying helpless at the institute’s shade with prescriptions for drugs they cannot afford have been added another financial burden. This is adding injury to injustice, and we are yet to see an upsurge in the number of preventable deaths accruing from delayed treatment among cancer patients.
Just as government has worked hard to ensure free access to antiretroviral drugs for HIV/Aids patients, similar efforts should be directed at saving lives of cancer patients.

The issue: Cancer treatment.

Our view: It is disheartening to see that the same patients who keep lying helpless at the institute’s shade with prescriptions for drugs they cannot afford have been added another financial burden.