Nankhumwa cheers cancer patient, pledges help

Leader of opposition Kondwani Nankhumwa coming from a trip at Zomba Prison where he made donations of protective gear for Covid-19, stopped over at Kachere in the city of Blantyre to visit a seriously ill Lipo Sarcoma cancer patient who needs urgent specialist medical attention.

The patient, Margaret Chiwisa, 23, was diagnosed with cancer in 2016. She has undergone operation once but now survives on chemotherapy, according to her mother, Agnes Nkonangona.

Nankhumwa said he was alerted about Margaret’s condition via a ‘Sapitwa’ WhatsApp group where one member asked him to do something about it.

“I came to see her and I am saddened by her situation. I will do everything to ensure that she is helped.

“I wish to ask well-meaning individuals and organizations to come to Margaret’s rescue,” said Nankhumwa, who also serves as Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) vice President for the Southern Region and MP for Mulanje Central.

A recent study by Kamuzu Central Hospital consultant urologist Dr. Charles Mabedi and others found that mortality attributable to cancer in the general population is poorly understood due to lack of a vital registration system.

Mabedi and others decry lack of cancer registry to track cancer cases in the country.

They note that a population-based cancer registry is only well established in the Southern Region while registries in the Central and Northern regions are based on tertiary hospital level data only.

Ministry of Health principal secretary Dr. Dan Namarika said government is working hard to contain cancer.