Located in the Norther Province of Rwanda, Butaro referral hospital has over the last five years improved treatment of cancer to extent of curing 80% of the children diagnosed and treated of the disease.
The hospital treats bone, blood, kidney cancer and receives 100 children of 1 to 16 years old every month that come for treatment on appointment.
Blood cancer is the most common diagnosed in children and older people but the cause is not yet known.
“Changes in diet and environment could be the causes as research about the cause of cancer continues. Favorite factors to prevent the infection are balanced diets with little chemical substances and avoiding red meat,” Denis Umuhizi, trained cancer personnel said.
The hospital started treating cancer in 2012 and has partners that help in treatment and access to medicines in collaboration with the ministry of health.
“Early treatment does almost cure children and are left with little cancer cells.”
In Butaro hospital not every limb affected is amputated.
“There is liquid and solid cancer which grows as a boil and are treated with chemotherapy to recede them before they spread everywhere and in case of deep infection amputation is done.”
There is radiotherapy which is only accessible in Kenya where patients from Rwanda are mostly referred.
“Rwanda does not have a radiotherapy machine. The number patients is also increasing with less doctors.”
There are senior doctors 4 and general practitioners and trained nurses 26.
“There must be doctors visiting the wards and the nurses consistently in wards taking care of the patients.”
But Breast cancer which common in girls and women is treated in Rwanda and those with hormone-cancer are treated with hormonotherapy.
The patients are referred from different health centers and other referral hospitals to Butaro with their diagnosis documents.
“At times they are referred back to Kigali hospitals for MRI. When they have enough diagnosis we send them to different hospitals for treatment,” Dr. Fidel Sebahungu, cancer diagnosis and treatment said.
The diagnosis can take a whole week or two. It is done at night on the liver and blood and can take a whole day.
“There are patients that finish their doses are given rendezvous for two weeks to get more medication. There are those getting treatment at the health centers.”
Every day the hospital receives 40 to 60 cancer cases with at least 10 new diagnosis.
At least 500 children with different cancer types were received at Butaro Hospital over the past two years.
People are not aware of cancer signs and tend to relate them with traditional evils therefore avoiding medical treatment.
In 5 to 15% of childhood cancers, are related to familial or genetic factors and Environmental exposures and exogenous factors cause 5-10% while unknown causes include 75-90% patients.
Children commonly suffer from leukemia (34%), brain tumors (23%), and lymphomas (12%). And the most common cancer in Rwanda is nephroblastoma.
To better treat cancers in children parents must trust and work as a team with health professionals, using their knowledge of their child and health professional’s knowledge of medicine.
Cancer signs child include continued unexplained weight loss, headaches, often with early morning vomiting, increased swelling or persistent pain in bones, joints, back, or legs, lump or mass, especially in the abdomen, neck, chest, pelvis, or armpits, development of excessive bruising, bleeding, or rash, and constant infections.
In sub-Saharan Africa 240,000 under the age of 19 have cancer, a report by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) released 2016 indicates that the global occurrence of childhood cancers is higher than previously thought.
In more than 100 cancer registries from 68 countries between 2001 and 2010, there were approximately 300,000 cases of cancer diagnosed in children and teens under the age of 19 every year. Of these, 80 per cent were from sub-Saharan Africa. Around the world, 80,000 succumb to childhood cancer annually.
Eric Murinzi@iRwanda24
