INSPIRATION IN FIGHT AGAINST CANCER

The experience of partner countries such as Brazil and the United States is a source of inspiration and a challenge for future strategies for early diagnosis of cancer, declared Mozambique’s first lady, Isaura Nyusi, on Tuesday.Speaking in Maputo at a meeting on cancer prevention through mobile units, drawing on the experience of the Barretos Cancer Hospital in Brazil, Nyusi said “through the experience of its partners, Mozambique wishes to strengthen and consolidate the coordination of efforts between health professionals in the country linked to clinical practice and to research”.Nyusi said that cases of cancer are on the increase – notably cervical and breast cancer among women and prostate cancer and Kaposi’s sarcoma among men. Cancers frequently diagnosed in children are leukemia and Kaposi’s sarcoma. “This situation is worsened by the HIV/AIDS epidemic which affects 11.5 per cent of the adult population, and favours the development and worsening of some cancers”, added the First Lady. This is particularly the case with Kaposi’s sarcoma. This is a tumour, usually on the skin and mouth, which became so common among HIV-positive men in the 1980s as to become a marker for AIDS.Cervical and breast cancer are major concerns for women’s health in Mozambique, stressed Nyusi. A pilot study is now underway in three provinces to demonstrate the acceptability of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine in treating cervical cancer. In many other countries the vaccine has proved highly effective in preventing this form of cancer.Screening for cervical cancer and early treatment of the lesions have now been expanded to more health units, she added. Mozambique is taking a “multi-disciplinary approach” to improve the institutional capacity to respond to cancer, relying on support from partner institutions which have provided capacity building for Mozambican staff, including through video-conferences and technical visits. Among the challenges the health service faces, Isaura Nyusi added, is the need to mobilise more resources to strengthen the diagnosis and early treatment of cancer, in order to avoid preventable deaths.