Cancer on the rise in Central District

Koketso Kgoboge | Tuesday July 28, 2015 17:00

This was said by Dr Nandan Shanbhag, an Oncology doctor at SRH in an interview with Mmegi on the sidelines of the Serowe District Show over the weekend. He said since the Oncology Clinic was opened at the hospital a year and a half ago, the number of cancer patients recorded by the clinic have been increasing at an alarming rate. He said the majority of the cases received are at late stages.

“Judging by the increasing number of cancer patients we receive each day since we opened in 2013, within a few years, cancer may prove to be the next epidemic in the country if strong measures are not brought in to deal with rising cancer cases,” Shanbhag said.

Shanbhag explained that the hospital has recorded different types of cancers but Kaposis Saccoma is the most common.

“We have noted that in Botswana Kaposis saccoma, an HIV-related cancer commonly known as AIDS defining cancer, account for 50% of the cases of cancer which is the case at our Oncology Clinic.

“Other common cancers are esophageal, cervical cancer, lung cancer, bone cancer and breast cancer. In every five cases we receive we do record one of these cancers,” he said. In the past six months, the Oncology clinic diagnosed four males with breast cancer, something very rare among men.

Shanbhag said most people visit the hospital when their cancer has reached stage three or four, which is difficult to cure because of their reluctance to visit hospitals for routine checkups or screening (of cancer).

“Of recent at the Ontology Clinic, with the help of some members of the community, we have been trying to sensitise the public about cancer.

“We have been educating them about common early cancer symptoms and we also encourage them to visit the clinic for screening on a regular basis,” he said.

He said they have visited Serowe churches and Serowe Prisons and have also conducted some Kgotla meetings as well as conducting house-to-house campaigns around Serowe in a bid to educate the public about cancer.

“We are yet to go outside Serowe but we have a scheduled plan to visit other areas in the Central District.

“We will be soon be visiting Palapye, Mahalapye and other neighbouring villages,” Shanbhag said.