The Zuzu Holding Hands Cancer Foundation held its second cancer awareness campaign at the Windhoek Central Hospital chapel hall over the weekend.
The foundation sought to encourage people to go for regular medical checks and screenings for early diagnosis and development treatments at an early stage.
“Furthermore, we wanted to honour the late president of Namibia Hage Geingob. By honouring his memory through this cancer awareness campaign, we paid tribute to his legacy and raise public consciousness about the importance of early detection and prevention,” said founder Rossina Kalimba.
President Geingob died on 4 February after a cancer diagnosis. His death has seen many calling for an improvement in the fight against the disease, as well as investment in cancer treatment technology.
Kalimba said the foundation is a youth-led initiative established in 2022 in memory of her late sister Ella Nangolo.
“She was a 22-year-old cancer patient who lived her life battling both breast and lung cancer. In the last two months before Ella passed on, she enthusiastically spoke about starting a cancer foundation that gives hope to cancer patients and their loved ones.
“She wanted a foundation dedicated to giving those diagnosed with cancer a shoulder to lean on and helping them in overcoming the disease,” said Kalimba.
Meanwhile, Namibia only has one outdated machine that treats cancer through radiation at a public health centre.
This was revealed at the beginning of this year by oncologist Dr Pelagia Peggy Emvula, who warned that this contributes to delays in treatment for state patients.
She said the current machine has outlived its lifespan – pending the importation of a new one which was due in March.
“Patients at private centres get better treatment because they can get their hands on anything, subject to them paying. The machines that they have, have higher energy levels than ours. As such, it takes a long time to treat one patient, sometimes from 30 to 45 minutes,” Emvula said on Desert Radio.
Namibia is in need of a costly Cobalt 60 radiation machine, which uses strong rays to fight cancer, she added.
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