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Solitary oncologist to treat 500 breast cancer patients

Oct 24, 2009 News

Guyana has only one oncologist at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) to deal with all cancer patients. At this time, also, the country has approximately 500 women living with breast cancer.
This is according to Minister of Health, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy, who noted that the one full time oncologist is a 100 per cent improvement for the health sector.
However, he explained that the treatment of cancer is not limited to the oncologist. “The oncologist is the specialist so any doctor can begin a process and then you make a referral and then go back to the doctor and it’s not like 500 people come at the same time, so let’s not make it an impossible thing that we need an oncologist for every case,” Dr. Ramsammy said.
He added that the oncologist receive patients from referrals as they do not engage in general work.
The cancer institute has its oncologist who visits the country every six months, while there are also others who visit the Georgetown hospital from time to time.
Thus far, approximately 500 women are registered with breast cancer which is Guyana’s number one cancer.
According to the Health Minister, while breast cancer mostly affects women, it is also prevalent in men, but rarer.
“And that’s something that men find rather astonishing because they never consider themselves as having breasts. We all have breasts and there is a difference in the expression of that.”
Breast cancer is also touted to be a very aggressive type of cancer and unless it is diagnose quickly, it could become fatal.
“Those interventions include surgery for the removal of the breast, which can be done in Guyana and we are doing more of that radical kind of treatment…it would include chemotherapy with medication and unfortunately the medication is extremely expensive and that is adding a huge expense to the public sector acquisition of drugs.”
The other intervention includes radiotherapy. (Fareeza Haniff)

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