Uganda Cancer Crisis: Medical services overwhelmed by rising rates, costs

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In Uganda, health campaigners are pushing for more radiotherapy machines to accommodate the growing number of cancer patients. Latest figures show that cases have gone up by 50 percent in the last ten years, yet the country has only ONE radiotherapy machine. CGTN's Hillary Ayesiga reports.

Harriet Anyango is battling cancer of the muscle.

She's been with the disease for two years now.

Doctors have prescribed chemotherapy as the first line of treatment.

HARRIET ANYANGO PATIENT "When they saw my condition was worse, they told me to come back tomorrow. But it took me three days to see a doctor."

A single dose of chemotherapy costs between 100 to 150 USD depending on the type of drug prescribed.

HILLARY AYESIGA KAMPALA, UGANDA "Harriet is due for radiotherapy, but she may not have it soon because of the high cost of treatment. And this may put her life in danger."

She now relies on volunteers for financial support.

But besides being costly, accessing radiotherapy service is also a hassle.

ANN KATUREGYE HEALTHCARE GIVER "This is a slow process, we cannot just get up early in the morning to go to Mulago hospital and access treatment. So through that long process, we've lost people."

Doctors say they are overwhelmed by the numbers.

DANIEL KANYIKE DOCTOR "The number of patients that need radiation are actually many. We are treating more than eighty patients per day and we have two shifts."

In 2018, the Kampala Cancer Registry registered over 30,000 new cancer cases, and 21,000 deaths.

CHARLES OLARO CLINICAL SERVICES DIRECTOR, UGANDAN HEALTH MINISTRY "We are at ninety percent completion stage of constructing modern bankers with six chambers which will house a radiotherapy machine each. This is part of the modernization and expansion of the radiotherapy services to benefit both the nation and the region at large."

And as government moves to prioritize this service, hope for cancer patients like Harriet could be revived. HILLARY AYESIGA, CGTN, KAMPALA.