Centre registers 15 colorectal cancer monthly, as WOCACA donates stoma bags to alleviate resource deficit

A senior medical officer at the National Cancer Centre (NCC) in Lilongwe, Dr. Akuzike Mtaula, has disclosed that the facility is registering at least 15 new cases of colorectal cancer (CRC) per month.

But Mtaula indicated that these figures could have more than tripled if screening and diagnostic services were to be intensified, especially in underserved communities.

He made the sentiments on Friday when Women’s Coalition Against Cancer (WOCACA) donated 85 reusable colostomy bags to alleviate a resource deficit at the facility.

Colostomy bags, also called stoma bags or ostomy bags, are pouches that collect waste from the body after a colostomy procedure, where a portion of the colon is bypassed and an opening (stoma) is created in the abdominal wall for waste to exit.

Mtaula stated that CRC is the third most common cancer worldwide and it is the third most common cancer in sub Saharan and is also increasing at an alarming rate compared to the five top cancers in Malawi.

“Most of these cases come to us at a late stage, and most of them either at stage three or stage four. So, it’s sometimes quite hard to give curative treatment, but now the surgical procedures are being performed more, and we are pushing more patients towards the curative part,” he explained.

He added, “But then there’s also the part about, I would say more people need to go for screening so that at least the disease is for area. We need to improve on our screening capabilities in in most in the central hospitals and other big hospitals as well. The other challenges now come with patient care, because after the procedure, some of the patients supposed to be using some stoma as they are receiving the treatment as they await a surgery.”

Dr. Mtaula emphasized the need for government and stakeholders int eh health sector to increase awareness and screening services in primary and secondary hospitals (since tertiary hospitals are already performing these services).

“Challenges are out of pocket costs, nutritional support and enhancing palliative care. Stakeholders should therefore collaborate in enhancing cancer control strategy,” he said.

Meanwhile, Mtaula has commended WOCACA for the donation, saying it will go a long way in addressing the problem of lack of such resources at the facility.

He said lack of these resources is currently forcing patients to buy on their own, which he described as a big burden, resulting in out of pocket expenditure.

WOCACA Project Officer, Esther Nyirenda, said the donation was part of the activities the organization lined up to commemorate this year’s Colon Cancer Awareness Month, which falls in March every year.

“We took an initiative of conducting awareness campaign on colorectal cancer and as we are completing the awareness campaign, we thought it was that we should also offer patient support, as it is one of the key focus areas at WOCACA. As we have heard from the chief surgeon, that most of the patients that present themselves with colorectal cancer, come at a very late stage, and diagnosis is very late. So they have to be using stomach bags while waiting for the surgery,” said Nyirenda.

According to WHO, colorectal cancer claimed 234 people in 2020, accounting for 0.24 percent of total deaths, with an age-adjusted death rate of 2.90 per 100, 000 of the population, ranking Malawi at 178 in the world.