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This was said over the weekend in Dar es Salaam by the Director of Testing and Calibration Services at Tanzania Bureau of Standards (TBS), Agnes Mneney when handing over various items to patients admitted at Ocean Road Cancer Institute (ORCI).
She said items donated to each patient included bottled water, juice, washing soap, pampers, drugs and bus fare to some of the discharged patients all worth 2.9m/-.
“This donation should stimulate other people in the society to start helping patients admitted in various hospitals countrywide,” she said.
The TBS director added that patients need to be assisted because they are also part of society who would serve the nation once they have recovered from whatever malady bothering them.
She said the bureau in collaboration with staff would continue to support the needy in society by donating various items to assist them overcome challenges they are facing while hospitalised.
A patient who preferred to remain anonymous thanked the bureau and its staff and called on other institutions to emulate them. He said that cancer patients are among groups that need special care and treatment due to the nature of the disease.
He added that the disease has spread so rapidly in the country thus the need for society to take care of their own while they are undergoing treatment.
He also advised Tanzanians to develop a culture of checking their health regularly for early diagnosis and subsequently treatment.
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health, Community Development, Gender, Elders and Children Dr Mpoki Ulisubisya was recently quoted by this paper as saying that at least 40,000 new cases of cancer are diagnosed annually at the Ocean Road Cancer Institute.
He further said that the number of new cases was still increasing, adding that necessary measures were needed to reduce it. He noted that 80 percent of cancer patients attended at hospitals were diagnosed at advanced stage of the disease and thus failed to get treatment.
Health experts say that many Tanzanians were ignorant of cancer risk factors, symptoms, and treatment. Concerted efforts aimed at giving awareness information on cancer and early detection must be combined with investment in public health infrastructure and service delivery.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN
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