Govt seeks Shs228b to set up 3 cancer centres

The Uganda Cancer Institute (UCI), the body mandated to undertake and coordinate cancer management in the country, has said it needs $60 million (about Shs227.8 billion) to establish three regional cancer centres.

Dr Jackson Orem, the UCI executive director, said the money would be used to build the centres in Mbale, Mbarara and Arua to address the hardship in access to care and reduce cancer deaths. He said the first regional cancer centre, which has been established in Gulu, has started handling some patients ahead of planned official commissioning this year.

“We need funding for the infrastructure for these other three regional cancer centres; Mbarara, Mbale and Arua. At the level we are starting right now, will require an average of $20 million (Shs76billion) to set up a basic infrastructure for a regional cancer centre,” he said. “Then in addition, when we are functionalising, we shall need the drugs and human resources,” he added.

Dr Orem made the remarks on Monday in Kampala while addressing the journalists about the ongoing cancer awareness month, being commemorated under the theme, ‘Close the Care Gap.’

Information from UCI indicates that there are around 34,000 new cancer cases in Uganda every year but the majority do not access care in designated treatment centres or present late for treatment. As a result, around 21,300 cancer deaths happen in the country yearly, according to UCI figures.

Dr Nixon Niyonzima, the head of research and training at UCI, said only 23 percent of new cancer cases make it to care centres.

“Between 7,000 and 8,000 new cancer cases make it for care at the UCI. At the UCI Mulago, we see between 6,500 and 7,500 and at our Mbarara centre in western Uganda, we see about 1,200 new cancer patients every year,” he said. 

The centre in western Uganda is operating within Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital but the government wants to establish a standalone facility.

Cancer specialists and the Uganda Cancer Society (UCS) attribute the limited number of people accessing care to long distance to care centres, poverty, low sensitisation on cancer and failure of health workers in lower facilities to refer suspected cancer patients to centres where they can receive the right diagnosis and care.

Appeal
Mr Dennis Olodi, the executive director of UCS, a network of about 40 civil society organisations (CSOs) in the cancer fight, told journalists at the same event in Kampala that more should be done to address gaps in accessing care and reverse common thinking that cancer is incurable.

He said CSOs are currently providing palliative care, artificial body parts for women who could have lost their breasts during surgery, and supporting the government in sensitisation and research, among others.

“Whereas the government is doing treatment and care, there are social issues, which interact with treatment. These can include accommodation, transport, meals for cancer patients, and counselling,” he said. 

“In society, a lot of people think cancer is not curable, so it is the job of UCS to bring together cancer survivors to demonstrate to the patients and the public that cancer is curable when detected and treated early,” he added.

Dr Orem said the government is increasing efforts to bridge the gap in cancer care and prevention.

“So, a major policy direction that the government has taken is to decentralise services by creating, as the first step, the regional cancer centres,” he said.

“We need funding for the infrastructure for these other three regional cancer centres including Mbarara, Mbale and Arua,” he added.

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