By Fariji Msonsa
Tanzania has the largest number of cervical cancer patients in East Africa, experts have said.
Speaking yesterday at the opening of the ‘We Can’ Summit meeting that brought together stakeholders from different countries to share their experiences in fighting cancer and to create a network that would enable them to act together in advocating awareness on the disease, the programme director of Health Promotion at WAMA Foundation, Dr Sara Maongezi said cervical cancer was higher in the country than the other types.
She said there were no comprehensive figures because they believed only a few people managed to reach health facilities while others died in their homes or in hospitals with neither cancer treatment equipment nor services.
However, based on the available data from the Ocean Road Cancer Institute that receives an average of 5, 200 new patients annually, 40 per cent of them are diagnosed with cervical cancer.
Yet, the figure rises among women whereby of all females in the country diagnosed with cancer, 60 per cent are reported with cervical cancer.
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