Navigation system to cut queues for cancer patients
MBABANE – It’s good news for cancer patients as they will now have a designated healthcare worker to assist them move about when visiting a health facility.
The Cancer Control Unit has introduced a navigation system to help its patients manoeuvre without any hassle at a healthcare facilities after diagnosis.
This was confirmed by Nokwanda Matsenjwa, who works under the Ministry of Health’s Cancer Control Unit, during the unit’s commemoration of Childhood Cancer Day at the Mbabane Government Hospital’s Outpatient Department (OPD).
When elaborating on the importance of navigators or the navigation system in the cancer unit, she detailed how, once a patient had received a diagnosis, more especially children as this was the focus point this month, it was necessary to make their healthcare facility checkups smoother by assigning navigators to assist.
Checkups
According to Matsenjwa, navigation within the unit was when cancer patients were assisted and taken through treatment and scheduled checkups without having to stand in long queues and also given priority when going through the treatment process through assistance by an assigned navigator.
“This was introduced because in the past there were instances where although a person was diagnosed, they underwent late treatment due to not knowing during their visits at the hospital or who to reach out to. However, the navigation process makes this easier, even when you were diagnosed in another facility and there is a need to be referred to another one it is easy and the patient is welcomed by the navigator, who could be an assigned nurse or Health Ministry partner, who has been made available specifically for this job,” she said. This, she said, lightened the burden of not getting the necessary assistance or care during check-up days.
Since September is regarded as Child Cancer Month, the unit under the Ministry of Health saw it fit to commemorate it and highlight how there has been a major improvement in cancer palliative care. She stated that the unit focused mainly on cancer cases nationwide and further assisted with every stage of cancer the patient underwent.
“The unit takes the patient from the time of diagnosis through every treatment. We appreciate that in the country childhood cancer can now be diagnosed, as there is nothing more disheartening than finding that a child is ill and you are not aware what the illness is,” she said.
Diagnosis
The health care worker further said it was commendable that the diagnosis wing in the cancer continuum of care was progressing because diagnosis was now possible.
Matsenjwa said the unit was still making strides to support parents of children who received diagnosis as they were still finding it hard to accept and required a lot of support. “It is not easy for relatives to handle finding out that their children have cancer but the palliative care has made it easy to assist the parent and the child, as well as the whole family to be able to come to terms with the condition,” she said.
During the event, the children who had survived cancer and their parents were present to share their experiences and further highlight what this day meant to them.
The children, when called to the podium, all expressed their joy at being considered survivors and emphasised how they were strong beyond belief. One of them was Amahle Matsebula, who is a high school pupil at Saim Christian High School. She detailed how surviving cancer had showed her that she was not only strong but capable of anything.Aparent of one of the children, when sharing her experience, stated that although she had come to terms with her child’s diagnosis, she still needed serious counseling as she was traumatised by the diagnosis, what her child had underwent with chemotherapy and her only lifeline was God, who had carried her through.
Principal Health Administrator Mkhosi Khumalo was also present to commemorate the day, and in his remarks, he highlighted how every year more than 400 000 children were diagnosed with cancer globally.
Children
“Most of these children live in low and middle income countries, where treatment is either unavailable or unaffordable. As a result, only 30 per cent of children with cancer in these countries survive, whereas in high-income countries survival rates exceed 80 per cent. This profound iniquity is a threat to the attainment of Universal Health Coverage and the realisation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with all their impact on development of human capital in low and middle income countries,” said Khumalo.
Director of Health Services in the Ministry of Health Dr Vusi Magagula was also reached for comment with regards to the new navigation system employed by the Cancer Control Unit. In response, Dr Magagula said the ministry had allocated patient navigators in regional hospitals and health centres.
“The patient navigators are intended to help patients with cancer overcome obstacles to timely diagnosis and treatment. This will also help to minimise the delay in referred levels of their care,” he said.