A local health expert says the 8 500 new cancer cases recorded yearly in Zimbabwe do not represent the true picture on the ground as more cases are unreported.
Data from a 2018 Zimbabwe Cancer Registry Report shows that the total number of new cancer cases recorded that year among Zimbabweans of all races (including non-melanoma skin cancer) was 7 841.
This comprised 3 301 (42.1 percent) males and 4 540 (57.9 percent) females.
According to Health Times, the numbers have since gone up to 8 500 new cancer diagnoses per year.
Speaking in an interview with HealthTimes, Cancer Association of Zimbabwe (CAZ) Monitoring and Evaluation Coordinator, Lovemore Makurirofa said the cost of cancer treatment in the country is prohibitive.
He said as a result, there could be an understatement of recorded cases as some patients were opting to die at home without getting treatment. Said Makurirofa:
Cancer cases are increasing every year. As you might be aware, according to the Zimbabwe Cancer Registry 2018 Report which is the latest statistics available, the number of cancer cases is increasing and there are now reaching around 8.500 new cancer cases every year which is very significant.
Also the deaths are always increasing. In a nutshell, we can say the cancer burden is very high in Zimbabwe.
The statistics which I am trying to illustrate actually underestimate the situation because these are the few people who have afforded to be diagnosed with cancer, they would have been afforded to report in a health institution.
The majority of them as CAZ, we sometimes see them, and they visit us but if they don’t afford those diagnoses costs, they go home and actually die of cancer before they are diagnosed, so they are not captured in the health system.
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