adminSamuel Kadungure Senior Reporter
A 42-year-old albino from Rusape, Elliot Mandaza, is one of the hundreds of Zimbabweans born with albinism, whose continuous exposure to the sun has made him vulnerable to a deadly facial cancer that has devoured and disfigured the entire left side of his face.
He has lost the left eye after developing a deep wound on the left side of his face.
The cancer is now spreading to the right of his face, rendering him partially blind. His back was also being eaten away. The advancing cancer now makes it difficult for him to eat and swallow anything as it now comes out through the wound.
Mandaza said the condition worsened last year in December after failing to raise $3 000 to undergo specialist cancer treatment at Parirenyatwa Hospital. Now his condition has worsened such that he now stares death in the eye if no immediate life-saving specialist cancer treatment is made.
“I do not have energy and I am slowly dying. I was the bread winner until this condition developed. I am leading a horrible life, my brother.
“The pain is too much. I have not enjoyed comfort since this cancer developed. All I want is to be treated, get well and work for my family again,” he said.
Mandaza is married with four children. His wife Dadirai Chizhande said her husband was turned away from hospital due to lack of funds and poverty coupled with the challenge of getting to distant medical facilities meant they sought care when it was already too late. She said the health challenges of albinos are numerous. Dadirai (30) says her husband used to be a handsome man. Their marriage was blessed with four children, all of them black.
“I have accepted his health condition, and I am the one taking good care of him. When I met him in 2008 he was a handsome and healthy man. He started developing a small tumour on the cheek, which has developed into that huge wound.
“He lost his eye in December last year and the cancer is spreading to the other eye. If something is not done, he will be severely deformed and completely blind. He can no longer eat or drink properly because whatever he consumes comes out through the wound,’’ she said.
Research shows that skin cancer constitutes 80 percent of the health problems of people living with albinism. Skin cancer prevention and protection includes the provision of sun block lotion.
“Skin cancers are a major risk associated with albinism and are thought to be a major cause of death in African albinos. Experts say early preventive measures, early presentation and treatment, and follow-ups should be encouraged.
Cancer, a non-communicable disease, has become more deadly than the HIV and Aids epidemic, and the perception is that little has been done to prevent or treat it compared to communicable diseases such as malaria, cholera and sexually transmitted infections. According to the national cancer registry, cancer is killing more people than malaria, tuberculosis and the HIV and Aids epidemic combined. The Ministry of Health and Child Care reveals that on average, 1 800 women are affected annually by either breast or cervical cancer. Of the affected, an estimated 1 200 die from the disease annually.
Online Reporter