The Sunday Mail
Catherine Murombedzi
Correspondent
A group of experts from the University of Zimbabwe (UZ), in collaboration with the University of Cape Town and Queen Mary University of London, has started working on a four-year cancer research.
It is anticipated that the study, which is a National Institute for Health Research-funded (NIHR) programme, would significantly contribute to fighting cancer in the country.
Dr Chipo Gwanzura, a research fellow in the study, said early diagnosis of cancer resulted in better treatment outcomes.
“The African Awareness of Cancer & Early Diagnosis (AWACAN-ED) study aims to reduce the severity of illness and deaths from cancer by contributing to a shift to early detection.
“The study will run for four years, with interest in a low-resourced country, being Zimbabwe, and an upper-middle-income country, South Africa,” she said.
Locally, the study will be led by Dr Bothwell Takaingofa Guzha and Professor Zvavahera Mike Chirenje from the University of Zimbabwe.
The study will be undertaken through the qualitative approach with three work streams.
“The first is to assess breast, cervical and colorectal detection, referral, and diagnosis services by conducting interviews with health facility managers. The second is to determine current practices, challenges, facilitators, and needs in diagnosing and managing patients with breast, cervical and colorectal cancer by interviewing health providers. The third aspect is to conduct a cross-sectional survey to evaluate referral and diagnostic pathways and associated factors for people with symptoms of breast, cervical and colorectal cancer. This will involve interviewing recently diagnosed patients,” said AWACAN-ED in a statement.
Over the next 12 months, a total of 1 134 patients are to be recruited between Zimbabwe and South Africa for the cross-sectional survey.
Local recruitment will take place in Harare, Mashonaland East, Mashonaland Central, Bulawayo and Mashonaland South provinces.
