EDITOR – CANCER has become one of the top diseases that are claiming lives in our country that needs emergency response, but it appears as if it is being given little prominence in the health sector.
Other diseases such as HIV are regarded as less deadly than cancer yet they are given prominence through the establishment of a levy that has helped to drastically reduce its threats on human lives.
Over 5 000 cases of various kinds of cancer are diagnosed each year in Zimbabwe as reported by the National Health Information System.
The theme for this year’s world cancer day is, ‘Cancer: Not Beyond Us’.
For Zimbabwe to achieve this goal there is need for the country to increase its support for cancer programmes that are currently facing financial constraints.
Poor funding has resulted in a lot of people including children die due to lack of access to treatment as treatment of cancer and quality health care in general have become the privilege of the elite.
The country can achieve the 2015 theme by establishing a cancer levy to save the people from the disease.
Current cancer treatment services in Zimbabwe are unable to meet the existing demand and people are getting diagnosed late and not seeking treatment early, whereas chances of survival are very high if the problem is detected early.
About 50 percent of the most common cancers can be prevented through reducing alcohol consumption, healthier diets and improved physical activity and avoiding smoking.
This is a call for increased awareness campaigns on the management of cancer in the country.

Jeffrey Madzudzo
Harare