Online Reporter
Obey Musiwa-Herald Reporter
THE University of Zimbabwe and the National Men’s Forum have launched a nationwide prostate cancer screening programme, to tackle what experts describe as a men’s health emergency by combining scientific expertise with grassroots mobilisation.
The partnership seeks to change the narrative around prostate cancer in Zimbabwe, where most men present with advanced disease.
The collaboration between UZ and NMF is designed to confront late-stage prostate cancer diagnoses by making screening accessible, timely, and community-driven.
Speaking at the launch held in Harare last week, founder and director of the Zimbabwe Prostate Cancer Study, Dr Athanasius Dube, emphasised that African men face higher risks of aggressive prostate cancer, and early detection is the key to turning fatal outcomes into curable cases.
“Most Zimbabwean men present with advanced disease, and African ancestry significantly increases the risk of aggressive prostate cancer.
“Early detection shifts outcomes dramatically — turning late-stage, hard-to-treat illness into early-stage, highly curable disease,” he said.
Dr Dube explained that UZ will provide the scientific and clinical backbone of the programme through its urology training programme and Zimbabwe Prostate Cancer Screening / Early Detection Programmes.
“This includes clinical governance, diagnostic oversight, Prostate-Specific Antigen (PSA) kit, biopsy pathways, Magnetic Resonance Imaging coordination, and national data systems.”
By bringing screening closer to communities, the initiative hopes to foster a culture of early detection that could save thousands of lives.
In this regard, NMF national men’s health adviser Dr Obadiah Moyo hailed the initiative as groundbreaking, noting its potential to place Zimbabwe at the forefront of prostate cancer genomic mapping in Africa.
“This intervention puts Zimbabwe on the map in terms of genomic mapping of patients who test positive for prostate cancer.
“What has been done has not been done elsewhere in Africa,” he said.
NMF chairman Mr Kudzanai Gavaza described the collaboration as timely and vital.
“We are very happy about this initiative. We are urging all men to come forward and get screened and get treated; there are specialists involved,” he said.
