Mozambique trains 60 doctors for cancer screening in the provinces

Plink minus 60 general practitioners, family and community medicine were trained in nine months to reinforce the screening and monitoring of cancer patients in mozambican provincial hospitals, announced today the head of the National Cancer Program.

“What we are doing, we are giving them the ability to distinguish the signs and symptoms of cancer alertness in general and also have the ability to know how to refer to higher levels of attention,” said Cesaltina Lorenzoni, in the margins of the closure of the Workshop on Advanced Care to the Oncologic Patient in Maputo.

According to the person responsible, the initiative covered 60 doctors and aims to enhance the capacity for early screening, diagnosis and referral of cases of breast and prostate cancer.

“ We intend to expand the oncology patient’s attention capacity at the level of all provinces, specifically in all provincial hospitals and general hospitals,” said Cesaltina Lorenzoni.

The head of the National Cancer Program explained that the training arises to respond to the shortage of specialized human resources in the area of oncology, at a time when the provinces of Maputo, in the south region, Sofala, in the center, and Nampula, in the north of the country, concentrate the highest number of cases of breast and prostate cancer.

According to her, liver cancer is more frequent in Inhambane province, while HIV-associated cancers have a higher incidence in provinces with a high prevalence of the virus, such as Gaza in the south, Sofala and Zambezia in the central region.

The meeting also served to present the Manual of Diagnostic Approach and Basic Conducts of Major Evil Tumors in Mozambique, an instrument to support health professionals in the care of cancer patients.

In October last year, health authorities advanced that Mozambique registers about 26,000 new cases of cancer each year, responsible for more than 17,000 deaths.

Recent data from the Ministry of Health also indicate that the country reports about 2,000 cases of breast cancer per year, a disease that causes approximately 800 deaths per year.

According to the health authorities, only 3% of cases of breast cancer have genetic origin and others are associated with external factors.

Nelson Mucopo, National Director of Medical Assistance, recently pointed out the lack of physical activity, smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, obesity and an unbalanced diet among the main risk factors of the disease.