The country’s biggest referral hospital, Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals, is still attending to cancer patients and those in need of care should visit the hospital, a senior doctor at the hospital has said.
The call comes as some sections, particularly social media, have been on an overdrive with misleading information that all Government hospitals were turning away cancer patients.
Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals head of cancer unit, Dr Nothando Mutizira said the hospital is still attending to patients although their services are constrained.
She said the hospital is, among other services, offering chemotherapy services to patients in need — itself a key cancer management remedy.
All other remedies like diagnosing, drug dispensing and condition management are also being offered. However, the hospital is currently unable to offer radiotherapy services and needy patients are either being offered chemotherapy or referred to private players.
“As Parirenyatwa we are seeing cancer patients following diagnosis,” said Dr Mutizira.
“Assessed and staged, after staging, unfortunately we are not able to offer external beam radiotherapy services at the moment, but we are however putting patients on chemotherapy who need to be on chemo.
“Patients who need brachytherapy, which is a special form of radiotherapy, are also able to access that service.
“So we are able to give chemotherapy both to in and out patients and to also to provide high dose rate brachytherapy for our patients with gynaecological magnalysis,” said Dr Mutizira.
“For those who can afford they can access radiotherapy in private, and for those who cannot afford we are putting them on chemotherapy so that we slow down disease progression.”
Also, Government has noted that there is a need to upscale the quality of healthcare services for cancer patients and is moving in to ramp up mobilization and distribution of medicine needed in the fight against cancer.
The Ministry of Health and Child Care is on record that they will ensure inclusion of cancer in the package for essential services accessed at the various levels of healthcare. – The Herald
