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| Suubi Trust a UK registered charity, 1119874, working with International Medical Foundation in Uganda. |
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| Suubi Trust a UK registered charity, 1119874, working with International Medical Foundation in Uganda. |
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Cancer
Care Fund
When we first investigated this need we were surprised to learn that cancer is as much an issue in Uganda as it is here in the UK. Like us, most Ugandan families will know at least one member who has been affected by this disease. Working with our sponsors and partners, we have established a Cancer Care Fund to support and enable provision of Cancer Care at Hope Ward. International Hospital Kampala has established a free of charge cancer care service. Hope Ward has been equipped, specialist chemotherapy nurses have been trained and Dr Helena Nam MBchB MRCP FRCR (Lon.), an Oncologist (cancer specialist) internationally qualified in both chemotherapy and radiotherapy, is committed to providing long-term cancer care. At present, the unit treats approximately 12 -15 outpatient day case chemotherapies each week. The unit also uses an additional 4 inpatient beds for cancer care and more complex inpatient chemotherapy regimens. The cancer unit can only expand with more specialist nursing staff, day case facilities and financial support. The objective is to deliver quality cancer care at international standards to those who would not normally be able to get such treatment. If you would like to help support this work then please click here to read how you can give to Suubi Trust.If you would like to discuss the matter in more detail then please contact: Kevin Duffy Chairman: Suubi Trust. Kevin@SuubiTrust.org .uk 07733318280 ...back to top Background
Information on Cancer in Uganda:
Cancer is a huge issue in Uganda - most families know at least one member who has been affected by this disease and research demonstrates that its incidence has increased significantly over the last five years. The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that cancer is one of the leading causes of death in this country and has risen from causing 9.4% of mortality in 2005 to 13.3% currently. According to statistics from the Uganda Cancer Institute, the number of revisits by patients has gone up from less than 1000 per year to almost 7000. A number of factors contribute to the increasing incidence of cancer in Uganda: the population is booming, people are living longer and HIV is still a major health hazard. Uganda is not alone with this prognosis. Data suggests that by 2020, > 60% of all cancer cases in the world will be diagnosed in the developing world. Cancer does not have to be a death sentence: 30% of cancers are preventable, 30% are curable and the remainder can be supported with palliative care. Treatments for cancer can take many forms but the most effective are chemotherapy (when anti cancer medication is injected into the body to destroy cancer cells) and radiotherapy (which is when high energy X-rays are targeted at certain parts of the body to destroy cancer cells). However, treatment can take up to several months and may well require a combination of treatments and it is expensive, so the ability to cure cancers is often far from realised in resource limited settings. Recent reports demonstrate that in Uganda, services are far from keeping up with the scale of the problem. The Deputy Director of Mulago Hospital, Dr Ezati was recently quoted as telling parliament that there was "no senior consultant, no medical officer, lack of laboratory and diagnostic services" at the national cancer institute. International Hospital Kampala (IHK) is trying to redress the balance by providing this necessary, life-changing care, increasing in-country capacity and thus helping to reduce the gap between cancer care in the developed and developing world. ...back to top Some
of the cancers seen most commonly in Uganda:
Cervical cancer Uganda has one of the highest rates of cervical cancer in the whole world (as many as 90 per 100,000 population). The social consequences of this cancer are immense: many of the women requiring treatment have large families who are orphaned if they fail to obtain adequate care. The good news is that cervical cancer is curable if treated early. Treatment is optimised by the addition of chemotherapy to radiotherapy and this can provide a cure even in more advanced cases. Unfortunately, most women are unable to afford this treatment and yet the additional cost of chemotherapy per patient is only £75 to cover ALL the chemotherapy required for weeks of treatment per patient. Breast cancer Breast cancer is also common in Uganda and we have been treating women even as young as 24yrs with this condition on Hope Ward, which is extremely unusual in more high resource settings. Breast cancer requires chemotherapy at many different stages (degrees of spread of cancer) but with optimal treatment these women can have their lives extended by many years. Standard chemotherapy for each patient would cost approximately £225. This covers all 6 cycles of treatment for several months. Lymphomas (cancer of the body's defence cells - lymphatic tissue) Lymphomas are very "curable" and if every patient had aggressive treatment early we would see many survivors. We have a number of patients - children and adults - who can testify to having recovered well and survived long after undergoing chemotherapy. This can cost between £28 per cycle (usually 6 needed) to £140 per cycle of treatment depending on which type of lymphoma. ...back to top Providing
a Cancer Service:
We are seeking funding from sponsors to help with each of the following: Provision of treatment Chemotherapy is too expensive for most in Uganda. However, the provision of cancer treatment and care to some patients has been made possible at Hope Ward, the charitable wing of IHK. The hospital has, in partnership with local corporates, been sponsoring patients and providing care free of charge. You can read here a summary of the 136 treatments provided during the 8 months up to April 2007. Without partners in sponsorship, patients would fail to get this life changing treatment. We are currently seeking support for this on a long-term basis, as well as sponsorship for individual cases. Funding levels can vary accordingly, the figures above give some idea of the costs involved. IHK is currently meeting the staff costs for Dr Nam and the nursing team. Further sponsorship could help to add more resource to this team and provide ongoing training and professional development. Cancer Awareness and Prevention An additional service is being developed which is vital to any comprehensive cancer service. Cancer awareness is poor and, because of this, patients delay and their cancer is less likely to be cured when it is more advanced. For example, we see many women who have had a breast lump for years and fail to seek medical attention until after it has spread. Materials are being produced but funds are needed for publishing the posters and information leaflets. Further sponsorship could be directed towards a more comprehensive community outreach. Patient Case Studies Click here to read more about some of the patients who's lives have been changed by the care given by Dr Helena and the team at Hope Ward... ...back to top Contact us... You can get in touch by email - Contact@SuubiTrust.org.uk or by mail to: Suubi Trust 15 Todd Close Holmer Green Bucks HP15 6UX. Or use this form to send your message now... |
Charlotte, Kate and Ruth raised more than £5,000 to support Cancer Care at Hope Ward.
read more here...   Helena has
provided us with a number of patient case studies which show the difference
that we can make by helping to support this care.
Click here to read more... |
| Suubi Trust is a UK Registered Charity No: 1119874 |