Cancer patients thrown a lifeline
A DONATION of US$50 000 worth of critical chemotherapy drugs has been made to Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals by TM Pick n Pay and CABS in partnership with the Cancer Association of Zimbabwe to provide much-needed patient treatment and alleviate the immense pressure on the healthcare system.
Speaking at the handover, Parirenyatwa Hospital’s head of radiotherapy department Dr Nothando Mutizira said many patients were struggling to buy chemotherapy drugs prescribed by doctors hence the donation would go a long way to ensure these people received quality care.
“These are the drugs that we commonly administer to our cancer patients. Usually, we have a challenge of our patients not being able to afford these drugs so we are left in a difficult situation where we are not able to deliver the treatment that we hope to give to our patients. With the availability of these drugs, where our patients will not be buying them since it is a donation, it will make our job a lot easier because then we are guaranteed that our patients will be able to receive the treatment that we prescribed,” she said.
The drugs were bought using money raised during breast cancer awareness month. TM Pick n Pay ran a series of Zumba sessions every Saturday from September until October last year, while CABS donated a cent for each swipe transaction on a CABS PoS machine.
Chemotherapy is one of the most widely used cancer treatments that uses drugs to stop the growth of cancer cells, either by killing the cells or by stopping them from dividing.
Dr Mutizira said patients who would benefit from the donated drugs would be chosen through the Department of Social Development.
“Normally we engage social workers to do that assessment for us when faced with patients faced with financial challenges,” she said.
Cancer Association of Zimbabwe general manager Mrs Junior Mavu said there were gaps in almost every aspect of cancer management in Zimbabwe hence partnerships with corporates would go a long way in addressing some of the shortcomings.
“We can safely say we have gaps in almost every area, from treatment, prevention, awareness, screening and early detection.
‘‘We are doing what we can but it could be better. Partnering is a noble idea because when you work as an individual, you don’t cover much but when you work as a team the mileage is good.
“I am encouraging all other stakeholders and organisations to rally behind hospitals, cancer treatment, cancer diagnosis, procurement of cancer machines so that at the end of the day whatever we are doing, we do it for the good of the patient,” she said.
According to the National Cancer Registry, the total number of cancer cases recorded in Zimbabwe in 2018 stood at 7,841 with 2500 cancer-associated deaths.