CANCER PATIENTS AT RISK AS LAB TOOLS BREAK DOWN

MBABANE – Cancer patients receiving chemotherapy are stranded, following the breakdown of the laboratory tools used to blend their drugs.

This has resulted in patients waiting for the treatment for months, since June. In an interview, one of the patients stated that he was supposed to start the chemotherapy treatment in June 30, 2023, but to date he had undergone it. The patient said he was told by nurses at the Moneni Cancer Hospital, which also provided chemotherapy, that they would call to notify him once they were ready with the treatment. He said they, however, did not explain the challenges they were facing. According to the patient, his fears were that his condition was worsening and by the time help was available, it would already be at an advanced stage. He said he also approached the Mbabane Government Hospital, where he was diagnosed following the challenges, and was told that there were no drugs but he was referred to Manzini.

Other patients also confirmed to have been through the same challenge and said they were frustrated by that no explanation was being made, except that nurses promised to notify them when the treatment is available. A reliable source close to the matter, who preferred to remain anonymous, said the blending machine for the cancer drugs had broken down and cracked a glass, which made it difficult to mix the drugs. The source said following the breaking down of the machine at the cancer hospital in Manzini, the blending was done at the Mbabane Government Hospital, where also the glass broke.

Repaired

She said the machine was being repaired. The source further mentioned that from the first quarter (April to January) they had been unable to get companies who could tender for cancer drugs because most of the time patients were being transferred to South Africa (SA). The source said they then purchase a few drugs, which made the vendors less interested. According to the source, recently they were able to tender for the cancer treatment successfully, such that government was now ready to receive the drug tenders. She said government,  through the support of sponsors could now purchase the drugs. However, she said there was currently minimum stock, which they could assist patients with.

Swaziland Democratic Nurses Union (SWADNU) Secretary General (SG) Mayibongwe Masangane said cancer had to be treated delicately and it was wrong for patients to lack treatment.
The SG said the reason the patient was not being contacted by the nurses was that there was still no drugs. Masangane said what was painful was that cancer advanced at a high rate in other parts of the body when one has not started the chemotherapy. “This means that if the cancer progresses, it may reach a point where the patient cannot be treated.” Masangane said chances of the patients surviving were reduced when each day passed by without them receiving the much needed chemotherapy, which is why, as SWADNU, they referred to the drugs and medicine shortage as a silent genocide. “In other countries people die through the barrel of the gun, but here they die because of diseases which could be prevented if there were drugs.”

Painful

Masangane said the situation was a painful one and nothing showed to be improving in the health system despite government assuring that they were addressing the state of affairs and drugs were being delivered. For those patients who had already begun the chemotherapy and were no longer receiving it, Masangane said they could end up stopping the procedure all together, as the cancer was advancing. He said the stage the country was in meant that emaSwati would get sick and die. Masangane said even if government brought specialist doctors it would not help because there were no drugs and medicine supplies in the country.

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