Doc: Cancer deaths high, needs collective work to fight

 DEATHS from cancer is high and health authorities and stakeholders must work together to fight it, Dr Paki Molumi says.

Molumi, the deputy head of the ear-nose-throat department in the Health Department, said a multi- disciplinary approach must be taken to fight cancer.

He said the Health Department, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Cancer Foundation, Cancer Society, non-government organisations and donor agencies must work together.

He said currently everyone was “doing their own thing without knowing what objectives to achieve”.

He said there were duplication of programmes, many only for publicity purposes.

Molumi said objectives to achieve by a coordinated approach included effective awareness, preventive and screening programmes, effective care of a cancer patient from diagnosis to treatment, and follow up and support research to improve patient care. 

Molumi said the cancer unit in Lae needed a modern radiotherapy service.

“The cobalt machine in Lae at the National Cancer Centre should be in a museum, not a hospital,” he said.

He said cancer care in Papua New Guinea was non-existent.

“We cannot say that everything is ok and allow people to die every day from cancer,” he said.

Molumi said the doctors who treated and cared for cancer patients faced many challenges including the lack of pathological services to diagnose the cancer early.

He said to combat cancer in the country needed a collective effort with clear strategies to ensure that we were truly fighting against cancer because it is claiming more lives that ones that were recorded officially in hospitals.