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Cancer patient seeks help for child who passed PLE

Cancer patient Suzan Akiteng with her son Jesse Nuwagaba at their home in Toroma, Katakwi District on February 4, 2025.PHOTO/SIMON PETER EMWAMU

What you need to know:

  • Battling cancer, the woman said her left breast was cut off in 2019, adding onto her misery in dealing with the heavy costs of treating the disease. 

A single mother suffering from the costs of treating breast cancer in Toroma County, Katakwi District is seeking sponsorship to have her only son who scored 11 aggregates in the 2024 Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE) enroll for secondary.

Suzan Akiteng was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2017 at Uganda Cancer Institute in Mulago, but since then- the disease has left her financially crippled after her only salon business closed over accumulated power bills.

Akiteng told Monitor that her 15-year-old son Jesse Nuwagaba, who sat exams at Angodingod Primary School in Toroma, may not join senior one, since the cancer she is treating has drained her financially.  

“The father of the boy died when he was barely 5 years old. Since then, I have been struggling with educating and taking care of the boy,” Akiteng explained. 

Akiteng says she spends over Shs500, 000 most times she visits the cancer institute in Kampala.

“The money has always come from people of goodwill at the Baptists church where I pray and worship from but this is not sustainable. People get tired, and my worry now is how this young son of mine will not continue with education because of money,” she narrated.

 Akiteng said her left breast was cut off in 2019. She was subsequently put on chemotherapy for a year, and later oral treatment that the doctors say should last 10 years.

Nuwagaba, who is among the 38 pupils who passed in Div 1 in Angodingod Primary School, said the only cow that her mother had was sold last year to meet her medical bills. The family is now holding onto a few local chicken for survival.

“In case I don’t make it to senior one because of fees constraints, I will consider repeating P7,” he told Monitor on Tuesday.

In Uganda, a recent study indicated that "overall, the top five high cancer burden districts by crude cancer incidence rates are Kampala at 86.6, Gulu at 73.6, Kabale at 68.1, Iganga at 62.2, and Bushenyi at 56.0 cancer cases for every 100,000 people."