By Our Reporter
KAMPALA – The First Lady and Minister of Education and Sports Janet K Museveni is expected to flag off a prayer walk against Cancer on November 3rd, 2018 in Kampala.
According to a statement sent to UG Christian News, this walk has been organised by Push Ministries in partnership with Uganda Youth Forum, an indigenous Ugandan faith based NGO founded by the first lady Mrs Museveni in 1992.
The walk will commence at 9:00am from Mulago Hospital– Uganda Cancer Institute to Old Kampala where final activities will take place.
The organisers will offer free screening for Breast Cancer, Prostate Cancer and Cervical Cancer.
In February this year, a report delivered by Dr Henry Ddungu, a consultant, hematologist/oncologist at the Uganda Cancer Institute (UCI) Mulago Hospital revealed that over 4,000 new cancer cases were registered in Uganda in 2017, with prostate cancer ranking high in men whereas breast and cervical cancer was leading in women.
Later in June, a report by the consortium of the Uganda Cancer Society put the Cervical cancer burden at 45 per every 100,000 compared to the global incidence of 15 women diagnosed with cancer per every 100,000 women.
The report indicated that though about 80% of women in Uganda are battling with cervical cancer, many of them never see a specialized doctor. It revealed that many of these women are diagnosed at health camps referred to Uganda cancer institute but never make it for specialized care.
Ddungu told media reporters that unlike prostate cancer, many of the cancers including cervical and liver cancer, stem from mainly infections such as hepatitis and the human papilloma virus (HPV).
“Lifestyle habits such as smoking, lack of exercises and poor eating can also lead to cancer,” Dungu added.
But what worried Ddungu the most, is the state of hopelessness that has been associated with cancer in Uganda.
