Cancer rates surge in Namibia
• By Veronica Amaral
The minister of Health, Kalumbi Shangula, said Cancer rates have risen on average by 12% in the last few years, with breast and cervical cancers being the most common among others.
According to Shangula, about one in five people develop cancer of one type or the other in their lifetime. Approximately one in nine men and one in 12 women die from the disease. “The burden of cancer continues to grow, and our health systems are under increasing strain as the demand for related management services increases. The statistics of cancer burden are sobering,” said Shangula.
Shangula stated that the discussions are centred around and focused on developing Namibia’s National Cancer Control Plan. He added that the purpose of the Control Plan is to guide the country’s efforts to effectively fight against the scourge of cancer in all its manifestations. “In this regard, the design of the Plan has necessarily to be comprehensive, covering all aspects of cancer such as prevention, early detection, treatment, patient referral systems, patient registries; and palliative care, just to mention a few,” added Shangula. Shangula further said the Plain aims to reduce cancer incidence and mortality while improving the quality of life for those affected by the disease.
He emphasized that even though the Ministry has been entrusted with leading the process, they must collaborate with all sectors and stakeholders.
“It requires, the involvement of different line Ministries, Offices and all Agencies, healthcare providers, research and tertiary institutions, non-governmental organizations, the private sector, international partners, and indeed, every Namibian. Including cancer survivors or those living with cancer, those with lived experiences of dealing with the disease,” Shangula added.
Secondly, our coming together here must serve as a Call to Action. It matters not from which vantage point we look at this challenge. We must infuse and inject a greater sense of urgency into what we do in what we do. Namibia needs a robust Cancer Control Plan. A Plan that can enable the country to effectively prevent and address the impact of cancer on our society.Furthermore, cancer control is a crucial component of Namibia’s non-communicable diseases (NCDs) strategy, launched in 2018.
This is due to its significant negative impact on public health, economic stability, healthcare system capacity, and the broader effort to control NCDs. Additionally, addressing cancer effectively will reduce its burden and strengthen the overall response to NCDs, improving health outcomes for all Namibians. According to Shangula, cancer patients are treated in the public and private sectors. The Ministry has identified cancer prevention and treatment as an essential priority.
“We have rolled out interventions both in terms of policies as well as diagnosis and treatment. At the policy level, the Ministry has sought Cabinet approval to introduce the vaccine for the prevention of cervical cancer,” he added. Furthermore, the Ministry has drafted the Namibia Cervical Cancer Strategic Plan 2023-2030 to accelerate progress toward eliminating cervical cancer as a public health problem in Namibia by 2030.
The Strategic Plan highlights interventions and actions to enable the country to achieve this objective. A multistakeholder Technical Working Group has reviewed the National Cervical Cancer Prevention Guidelines to ensure the guideline aligns with the current global guidance to provide high-quality and evidence-based cervical cancer services and improve patient treatment outcomes. Namibia will integrate cervical cancer prevention services into existing primary health offerings.
Namibia will gradually transition from the current Visual inspection of the Cervix using Acetic Acid to HPV DNA testing as the primary screening test for cervical cancer.
This high-performance screening test will target the general population of women aged 30 and women aged 25 who are living with HIV. The screening interval will be ten years and five years for the general population and women living with HIV, respectively.
HPV DNA test will be introduced in a phased approach, starting with populations at high risk of developing cervical cancer, such as women living with HIV, and on a small scale and be expanded to all regions.
The Ministry aims to achieve 70% screening coverage by 2030, which aligns with the global target. To ensure services are brought closer to women at the community level and to strengthen linkages for follow-up services, the Ministry will use the existing community healthcare workers’ network.
“Namibia has been implementing the screen-and-treat approach since 2017. The country has successfully introduced and scaled up the treatment of precancerous lesions using point-of-care thermal ablation devices. “Women aged up to 50 years are screened with VIA and offered same-day treatment with thermal ablation,” Shangula stated.