By Kuda Pembere
The Ministry of Health and Child Care is on the verge of completing the National Cancer Control Plan to guide Zimbabwe in the management of cancer in the country.
This was said by Mr Lee Nkala from the Health Ministry’s Non-Communicable Diseases Department during the commemorations of International Childhood Cancer Day at KidzCan Offices in Harare last Thursday running under the theme, “Unveiling Challenges.”
International Childhood Cancer Day is a global collaborative campaign to raise awareness about childhood cancer and to express support for children and adolescents with cancer, the survivors, and their families.
“So today, as it has been pronounced, it talks about the theme which actually talks to us as leadership, to say, together we challenge those in power. Why?
There is need to be political commitment in this what we are talking about and indeed the government is showing political commitment by resuscitating the radiotherapy departments by also ensuring that we come up with a strategic document and it is we are about to finalize the strategic document which is called the National Cancer Control Plan. We are about to finish it,” he said.
He explained they are doing some finishing touches to the document such as including the costing component.
“What is only left is to align it with the strategic plan which is currently going to be developed for the Ministry of Health that goes to the vision of 2030. And as such, we have come up with all the necessary requirements except costing. I think if we also complete the costing part, then we are ready to unveil the documents,” Mr Nkala said.
Mr Nkala also said, the Health Ministry’s Health Informatics and Data Analytics Department has been engaging the cancer department in coming up with timely data.
“But what I will only say is that those are the strategic interventions that the government is doing. You heard the ministry also came up with a unit which is called Health Informatics and Data Analytics. We have developed a module on Impilo where all experts and professionals from the cancer department were called in to come and make inputs on how best we can have real data with time,” he said.
“So, the data sets and also all the requirements that are needed in that system are being analyzed so that we can eventually have real-time data.”
He noted the Cancer registry 2019, is coming soon.
“Because if you look at our cancer registry that is currently marshaling the information or collecting the information, you realize that it’s just behind by years. The latest report is 2018, and the 2019 is shortly coming up. But we are the best nevertheless and our cancer registry actually is actually a commendable department because the staff there is half the time asked to go and train other SADC countries because of its excellence,” Mr Nkala said.
The Ministry’s NCD department will this week be doing an oncology quantification exercise.
“As we are talking most the ministry has been also doing the of drugs, mostly looking at diabetes and hypertension. But because of the big noise and the big mouth that the department has been doing, this year around, they have even accommodated oncology quantification starting next week,” Mr Nkala said.
KidzCan Executive director Daniel Mackenzie said they have transformed the day into a month-long commemoration.
“The month-long event is a transformation of the traditional Orange Day celebration, which was originally held on February 15th as part of the International Childhood Cancer Day. ICCD is a global collaborative campaign to raise awareness about childhood cancer and to express support to children and adolescents with cancer, the survivors and their families.
“Well here in Zimbabwe, we’ve transformed this day to cover the whole month of February and even beyond as an awareness campaign that also includes fundraising,” he said. “On Orange Day, a day that many of our schools celebrate, children attend school clad in orange and bring a dollar donation that is given to Kids Camp. The money goes towards the treatment of pediatric cancer sufferers and their families who often have to deal with the surge of solitude due to stigma caused by ignorance.”
