The Cancer Association of Namibia (CAN) on Monday opened a cancer centre in Rehoboth in the Hardap Region.
The centre was made possible through a voluntary committee established in 2016 for CAN to address the urgent plight of local patients diagnosed with cancer.
Officially opening the centre, Governor of the Hardap Region, Esme Isaack said the fight against cancer should not only involve the victims and survivors, but the community at large.
“I am also a survivor of cancer and I am thus calling on all stakeholders to help the CAN on the road to fighting. We should know that it is not the end to be diagnosed with cancer as it can be cured if detected at an early stage,” she encouraged.
While appreciating the efforts by CAN, Isaack explained that the virus calls for consistent and substantial support to those affected.
“Cancer calls for care now, care always as we are in the same Namibian house and with the ever changing environment let us, as one family join forces in the fight against cancer,” she concluded.
CAN’s Chief Executive Officer Roelf Hansen told Nampa on the sideline that a total of 3700 new cases of cancer are recorded in adults per year, with 300 new cases in children reported.
He revealed that most of these cases are recorded in women between 45 to 60 years who are diagnosed with breast cancer, while women develop cervical cancer as early as 35 years, and men are mostly affected by prostate cancer as early as 40 years.
Hansen further said CAN is busy training nurses at the Ministry of Health and Social Services on how to give quality treatment to cancer patients.
“I am calling on people to practice monthly head-to-toe self-examination of their skin, so that they can find any new or changing lesions that might be cancerous or pre-cancerous,” he advised.