Cancer a concern for all

BREAST and cervical cancers are the two common ones affecting women and girls in the country while mouth cancer has increased over the recent years, a surgeon says.
Specialist surgeon and senior lecturer at the University of Papua New Guinea school of medicine and health sciences Dr Arnold Waine reminded people of the dangers of cancer during an awareness programme in Port Moresby yesterday.
Waine said most of the cases they saw at the hospital were at a “very late stage”.
When they reached stages three and four, doctors could not do much to treat patients because of the lack of capacity and medical drugs for treatment.
He said in the last 20 years, there was a lack of Government policies in relation to cancer in the country and much of the attention were on other diseases such as HIV/AIDS.
However, in the Health Department’s medium-term development plan 2020-2030, cancer is a priority.
“While there is an increase in the number of cancer patients, with about 15,000 every year, the country’s health facilities do not have the required equipment or specialised drugs to treat them,” Waine said.
The cancer facility at Angau Hospital in Morobe cannot treat cancer patients because since 2012, the unit has not had a cobalt-60 – the radioactive material used to kill cancer cells.
Most of the cancer patients who required radiotherapy had to seek treatment overseas if they could afford it while those who could not, likely died.
“The cancer centre at the Port Moresby General Hospital is still under construction and once completed, it will be equipped with machines and medical drugs for treating cancer patients,” NCD Governor Powes Parkop said.
Since there is no known cure for cancer, much of the emphasis were made on the need for people to go for early screening to detect cancer at an early stage which oncologists can treat.
Waine wants people to watch their diet and stop consuming alcohol, cigarettes and betel nuts because most of the cancers are caused by the type of lifestyle that people live.
He said the male population in the country had to be aware that the two most cancers were affecting women and girls so it was vital for them to have an open conversation with their partners or daughters and go for early screening.