Call to use part of Aids Levy to fight cancer
MRS Marry Chiwenga, the wife of Vice President Constantino Chiwenga, has urged Government to consider allocating half of the Aids Levy towards fighting cancer.
She said this in an interview on the sidelines of Mrs Sylvia Mugwisi’s funeral service at One Commando Barracks yesterday.
Mrs Mugwisi was the wife of Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF) spokesperson Colonel Overson Mugwisi and succumbed to cancer on Monday. She was buried yesterday at Glen Forest Memorial Park.
The Mugwisi family has also lost two daughters to cancer in the past three years.
Mrs Chiwenga said Government needs to do more to assist cancer sufferers.
“As a nation, Zimbabwe is not giving enough to cancer patients and while sufficient funds have been directed towards HIV and Aids patients, cancer patients are not receiving enough attention. Being the biggest cause of people’s death today, it is only fair that Government reviews the funds and pay more attention towards cancer and its victims,” said Mrs Chiwenga.
“I was present at the time the colonel’s daughter fell victim to cancer and now his wife as well. I once appealed to Government through the Minister of Health and Child Care, Dr David Parirenyatwa, and suggested that the AIDS Levy be split in half and direct some of the funds towards cancer,” she said.
Cancer, she added, now accounts for more deaths than HIV and Aids.
“The nation is not doing enough. We are just watching our people die. The number of AIDS-related deaths compared to the number of cancer-related deaths is much less, and this only shows that more attention needs to be given to cancer patients. Cancer is a nationwide battle and an individual person cannot fight it on their own, so people need to come together to support each other,” she said.
According to Mrs Chiwenga, cancer also exerts a heavy financial toll on its victims.
“Cancer is not just a disease that will take lives away, but also everything else a cancer patient owns. A lifetime’s worth of earnings can go towards treating a cancer patient and most of the time, even that is not sufficient.
“I urge people out there suffering from cancer, and to those who have loved ones who are suffering from cancer to assist each other where possible.
“If there is little hope for a cancer patient, the least they can do is give them a comfortable passing. Come forward, let us help each other where we can. Let us make it better if we can and if we cannot, let us give cancer patients a comfortable exit, they deserve that. Nobody deserves to die a painful death,” Mrs Chiwenga said.