Maputo, 5 Jun (AIM) – The Mozambican health authorities are recording 25,000 new cases of cancer each year, according to the head of the National Scientific Cancer Control Program, Cesaltina Lorenzoni.
According to Lorenzoni, who was speaking on Thursday, in Maputo, on the sidelines of the multidisciplinary workshop on cancer treatment, Maputo Central Hospital (HCM), the largest health unit in the country, diagnoses 2,700 to 3,000 new cases of cancer every year. According to Statistics unveiled in 2022, about 17,000 people lose their lives every year as a result of various types of cancer diagnosed in health units.
“One of the issues from which we really suffer is the lack of trained medical staff for this area. As you know, ten years ago the cancer area was not prioritized. We had doctors trained in various areas, general paediatrics, and surgery and there was not much focus on this area”, she said.
However, she explained that the country’s health authorities are now making efforts to speed up training in cancer treatment.
“It’s not enough to have infrastructure and it’s not enough to have equipment. We need people who discuss, who know how to treat in the best possible way to reduce cancer mortality. Currently four doctors are receiving training in gynecological cancer, but we also have training in other areas such as breast cancer, cervical cancer and pediatric cancer”, she said.
Lorenzoni added that the Health Ministry must rely on the training of more local professionals because “right now, we are using general practitioners and allocating them to all general hospitals, both central and provincial, in order to ease the burden in terms of access to services.”
The workshop brings together 60 professionals from national and international institutions from the USA, Brazil, Spain, Germany, the UK, Kenya, Gambia, Ethiopia, Rwanda, and Nigeria.
(AIM)
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