10 Aug 2025

Nyangabgwe Referral Hospital detected about 242 cases of breast cancer last year.

Speaking at the 7^th edition of the Mascom Batanani Charity Walk in Francistown on Saturday, hospital superintendent, Dr Ivan Kgetse said already 42 cases had been detected from January to June.

All the cases involved women, something that Dr Kgetse stated was a cause for concern, given that women frequented health facilities more than their male counterparts.

“Why are women the last to know that their breasts have lumps? Why do healthcare workers seldom touch women’s breasts whenever they visit?“ he wondered, blaming the status quo on the long time taken at government facilities to have women’s breasts tested for cancer, a thing he said had the potential to worsen one’s condition if they had the disease.

He further commended the Batanani Charity Walk initiative for closing the gap over the years, by helping meet the needs of the beneficiaries, especially those within the health space, thanks to proceeds accrued through the exercise.

For his part, Francistown South legislator, Mr Wynter Mmolotsi called on the nation to rally behind the cause to fight breast cancer by sharing information about the disease with fellow citizens.

Mr Mmolotsi, who is also Minister of Environment and Tourism, also said there was a need for the nation to give prostate cancer the same attention it did with breast cancer.

The two non-communicable diseases, together with cervical cancer, have wreaked havoc not only in Botswana, but globally, resulting in the loss of many lives.

Journey of Hope Botswana representative, Ms Onicah Lekuntwane was elated that the organisation would benefit from the proceeds of this year’s walk.

“We are humbled by the support as Journey of Hope Botswana because we are faced with a mammoth task of fighting against breast cancer, which is one of the leading causes of death amongst women in Botswana,” she said.

Ms Lekuntwane said the fact that breast cancer was easy to detect, should give people hope to win the fight against the disease.

She therefore, called on Batswana to rise and test for the disease so that necessary curative measures could be taken.

Mascom chief executive officer, Ms Dzene Makhwade-Seboni, said the 7^th edition of the Mascom Batanani Walk was a clear testimony that the company was rallying the cause to help on many key societal issues.

In the past, Mascom has used proceeds from previous charity walks to help in the fight against gender-based violence, drugs and substance abuse and procure ICT equipment at Francistown Centre for the Deaf.

Meanwhile, the Saturday walk was divided into two, five and 10 kilometres and participants aged from five years to over 60 took part.

This year’s charity walk was held under the theme: Breast Cancer Awareness, Early Detection and Prevention of Breast Cancer Through Screening. ENDS