24 Sep 2017

Minister of Tertiary Education, Research, Science and Technology, Dr Alfred Madigele says it is time Batswana are engaged and exposed to basic cancer information. 

Speaking at the first Botswana-United States Alumni Association (BUAA) speaker series recently, Dr Madigele said Botswana was faced with a double-edged epidemic in HIV/AIDS and cancer.

“We need to communicate with the general public about these issues because not only are we facing HIV infections, but danger from non-communicable diseases as well,” he said.

He urged Batswana to seek medical attention as opposed to consulting traditional doctors when they suspected cancerous symptoms.

“People tend to consult traditional doctors the minute they suspect cancerous lumps on their bodies and when they do finally seek medical attention, the cancer is no longer curable,” he said.

Dr Orapeleng Phuswane-Katse, a medical doctor at Princess Marina Hospital, said the most common cancers in Botswana included leukemia, sarcomas, Wilms tumors, CNI tumors and Kaposi Sarcoma.

Dr Phuswane-Katse noted that some of the challenges cancer patients faced were shortage of adequate specialists, lack of appropriate infrastructure, delayed presentation and diagnosis of pediatric cancer and limited non-clinical facilities.

Another speaker, Ms Lechani Wotho, who is BUAA president, said the speaker series sought to create dialogue on dealing with cancer, explore the socio-economic impact of cancer and explore available legislation and framework, identify gaps and how the association could lobby for more cancer awareness.

Ms Wotho said since September was declared childhood cancer awareness month, the title for the speaker series would be creating a cancer conscious society.

“We also want to see how BUAA can continue to support platforms that create awareness around childhood cancer issues,” she said.

On BUAA, she said the association was an umbrella that housed all US exchange and educational programmes in Botswana.

Ms Wotho noted that BUAA encompassed in excess of 15 US aided programmes among them the Fulbright Scholarship programme, the International Visitor Leadership programme, the Pan-African Youth Leadership programme and the Mandela Washington Fellowship. She said they were just a handful of various programmes at Batswana’s disposal through the US embassy in Botswana.

“I implore all of you today to familiarise yourselves with the vast opportunities that are available to us through these extinguished programmes,” said Ms Wotho.

BUAA also created a platform for members and organisations to showcase the meaningful impact their various projects had on the community. ENDS