The Sunday Mail
Rumbidzai Muparutsa
Government has set aside $5 million for cancer vaccination and screening programmes for girls and women. Of this, $3 million is for the ongoing human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccination programme, which is targeting more than 800 000 girls. The remainder is earmarked for the Visual Inspection with Acetic Acid and Camera (VIAC) screening programme for women.
HPV is the virus that causes cervical cancer.
VIAC involves examining the opening of a womb or cervix for changes that might lead to cancer and is considered to be an effective way of preventing cervical cancer in women aged 30 to 50. Director for Family Health in the Health and Child Care Ministry, Dr Bernard Madzima, said: “The ministry has a cancer strategy to fund and support cancer-related programmes. The cancer burden is on cervical, breast and prostate; hence, funding depends on the burden.
“The major funding is for cervical cancer, with the HPV vaccination programme being allocated $3 million. The VIAC screening programme was allocated $2 million per year.”
According to the Zimbabwe National Cancer Registry, cervical cancer is the most dominant malignancy of Harare’s black female population (26,6 percent), followed by breast cancer (13 percent), non-Hodgkin lymphoma and stomach cancer (5,6 percent each), Kaposi sarcoma (5,4 percent), oesophagus (4,7 percent), ovary (3,4 percent), liver cancer (2,8 percent), lung (2,6 percent), and tumours of the brain and nervous system (2,4 percent).
HPV vaccination is recommended for 11 and 12-year-old girls as they are unlikely to be sexually inactive hence not yet affected by the virus.
“There are no major pockets of resistance, you are unlikely to vaccinate everyone, but the major aim is to vaccinate as many people as possible and build what is called herd immunity; that means less infections in the population,” said Dr Madzima. Government is undertaking cancer treatment programmes at Mpilo Central Hospital in Bulawayo and Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals in Harare, where radiotherapy is readily available.
There are also various projects being undertaken between Government and organisations such as UNFPA, WHO, Island Hospice, the Cancer Association of Zimbabwe, and Healthcare.
While the exact causes of cancer are not yet fully known, it is believed that smoking, alcohol abuse and consumption of genetically modified foods are significant contributors.
