Cancer clinic opens at Isoka hospital

A CERVICAL cancer clinic has been opened at Isoka District Hospital to service women in the area who were being referred to other districts for screening, Muchinga Province Cervical Cancer Focal Point Person Dr David Silweya has con¿rmeG Dr Silweya said in an interview that the decision to set up the cancer clinic at the hospital was to bring cancer screening services closer to the people to reduce on disease prevalence in the district and surrounding areas. “Cancer is a preventable condition through early detection and statistics have shown that it is one of the leading causes of mortality among women. So in Muchinga we had set up three clinics, in Nakonde, Mpika and Chinsali. Now we are in Isoka through support from the Ministry of Health we are setting up a screening clinic at Isoka District Hospital,” Dr Silweya Said. Dr Silweya said previously, women from IsoNa and 0afinga were referred to Chinsali General Hospital for screening but that this would no longer be the case. He said he was impressed with the high number of women who were already visiting the health facility for cervical and breast cancer screening. “As you can see there is a huge turnout of women who have come for screening so we are screening for both cervical cancer and breast cancer and this is a plus for the people of Isoka and 0afinga districts,´ he said. He said some nurses from Isoka were currently being trained on cancer screening and other related issues. A team of experts from Lusaka, Chinsali and Isoka targeted to screen about 800 women for cervical and breast cancer this week and so far, more than 250 had already been screened, he said. Early sexual intercourse, multiple sexual partners and smoking were some of the major causes of cancer diseases prevalent in the area, Dr Silweya said. Dr Silweya also encouraged men to be circumcised to safeguard their partners against contracting cervical cancer which was caused by human papilloma virus.