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Rumbidzayi Zinyuke
Senior Health Reporter
A significant number of women who are diagnosed with breast cancer in Zimbabwe often report to a health facility late, resulting in delayed detection, treatment and high costs of care.
This, according to experts, results in poor outcomes for most of these patients, resulting in a high mortality rate.
Breast cancer is the second most common cancer among women in Zimbabwe accounting for about 8 percent of all cancer cases being recorded in the country.
It is estimated that the country could be having more cases of breast cancer per year than is reported by the National Cancer Registry.
Head of radiotherapy department at Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals, Dr Nothando Mutizira, highlighted the urgent need for women to undergo early screening for breast cancer as late diagnosis was significantly impacting treatment outcomes and increasing healthcare costs.
“Unfortunately, people are presenting very late. Most of the patients that we see at this centre and even around the country present with stage 3 or stage 4 disease, which is in other words very advanced cancer. And when patients present with a disease that advanced, the chances of cure are much lower. And it’s also more expensive to treat advanced cancer. So we encourage patients to see their doctor early. If there’s anything abnormal going on in their bodies, they should go and see a healthcare provider as soon as possible so that they can get treated early,” she said.
As far as cancer is concerned, Dr Mutizira said it was important for people to get screened regularly even when they did not have symptoms.
This was done to ensure that a patient is still fit enough to access services so that the disease can be picked before they are advanced and increase survival chances.
“Every woman aged 40 and above should go and get screened for breast cancer. The best screening test for breast cancer is a mammogram. This is an X-ray of the breasts that we encourage women aged between 40 and 70 to have at least once a year. It will help to pick breast lesions or breast masses before sometimes you can feel them with your own hands. So whilst we encourage women to be familiar with their breasts by doing breast self-examination, we also encourage women in this age group to get mammograms,” added Dr Mutizira.
Cancer patients receiving treatment at Parirenyatwa also emphasised the importance of early detection.
Ms Sibongile Mahuni, a patient who underwent mastectomy last month said she was responding well to treatment.
“I was diagnosed with breast cancer last year in August and since I started getting treatment, my journey hasn’t been that hard because I strictly followed the doctor’s orders. A lot of people are afraid to come to the hospital for a diagnosis. They need to be told that cancer can be treated at the hospital,” she said.
She advised women to always self-test to check for abnormalities and lumps in the breasts.
Online Reporter