BY PATRICIA SIBANDA THE Cancer Association of Zimbabwe (CAZ) has unveiled cancer screening and awareness programmes targeting workers throughout the country as cancer mortality rates are soaring.
CAZ spokesperson Lovemore Mukurirofa yesterday told NewsDay Weekender that employees were failing to access cancer screening due to work commitments.
“As CAZ, we have noted that it’s very important for us to teach employees about cancer prevention while they are at the workplace because when we do community programmes, they won’t be there, they will be at work,” Mukurirofa said.
“Our workplace programme aims to bring cancer awareness services to employees, and we also target screening them at their workplaces.”
He said CAZ hopes the programme will reduce stigma and discrimination associated with cancer.
“In the event that someone develops cancer at the workplace, they should be treated with dignity,” Mukurirofa said.
Cancer has wreaked havoc across the world, claiming 18 million lives annually.
While two in four people in the developed world survive cancer for 10 years or more due to advanced research and treatment, in Zimbabwe, over 5 000 new cancer cases are diagnosed annually.
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According to Global Cancer Observatory data, in 2020, Zimbabwe, a country with a population of 14 862 927, reported 16 083 new cases of cancer and 10 676 deaths due to the disease that year.
The most frequently reported cancers in the country included cancers of the cervix, breast, and prostate.
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