By Saumu Jumanne
Posted Sunday, December 7 2014 at 15:20
IN SUMMARY
If this is the case, then I feel the President’s decision to come out openly about suffering from the condition, should go a long way in creating awareness about the disease.
The State House announcement that President Jakaya Kikwete had gone abroad for prostrate treatment deserves commendation as it bore a very special lesson for us all.
It’s the norm for African leaders’ illnesses to be kept a top secret. All within their means would be done to bar this information from getting out to the masses fearing general instability in the country. Besides, a Head of State is not just any other person, but the ultimate leader of a nation. Methinks, it’s good that our President came out about his health status.
President Kikwete follows the tradition set by a few leaders who came out about their ailments. In 1997, Southern Africa freedom hero Desmond Tutu was diagnosed with prostate cancer and underwent a successful operation. Despite his advanced age, he has continued making his contribution to his mother land.
South Africa’s former president Nelson Mandela was also diagnosed with prostate cancer, treated and lived to tell the story.
I’m sure all people of good will are happy, as the President’s condition was detected early and treated. Otherwise, some famous Africans like Mobutu Sese Seko (former president of the DR Congo) and Joshua Nkomo (former vice president of Zimbabwe) succumbed to their ailment.
In 2009, the former minister for Health and Social Welfare, Prof David Mwakyusa, said: “Only 10 per cent of patients suffering from various types of cancer register in hospitals for check-up and treatment”. I’m not sure if things have changed, but for breast cancer, women doctors’ associations and the media have spent a lot of time creating awareness.
The good professor indicated that the remaining 90 per cent do not make any effort to attend medical check-ups. He could have added that many also lose their lives even without being aware that it was cancer that they were suffering from.
Prostate cancer, Prof Mwakyusa added, kills many people in the country because of lack of awareness. If this is the case, then I feel the President’s decision to come out openly about suffering from the condition, should go a long way in creating awareness about the disease.
At one point, there was an attempt by civil societies to create more awareness about the disease, but there was no support. Like other diseases, it is paramount for men to know the risk factors, warning signals and then take action.
Existing information shows that prostate cancer is curable with early detection, but how many men go for health screening?
“Prostate cancer has no social boundaries,” noted Archbishop Tutu, after his successful operation.
Existing literature shows that, prostate cancer kills one man in every 13 minutes. Of all men diagnosed with any kind of cancer each year, twenty five per cent have prostate cancer.
At the same time, age is the number one risk factor with men over 65 being the most vulnerable. But even those at 40 to 50 years of age can also get it. Apart from age, other named contributing factors are diet and genes.
So, early detection of any type of cancer helps a lot. President Kikwete’s early diagnosis and successful treatment is a testimony that cancer is curable if detected early. He urged us to build a culture of checking our health status regularly, instead of waiting until it’s too late.
Remember, we are the determinants of our own destiny. A renowned American Terri Guillemets, says “Health is a relationship between you and your body”; so take care of your body today and it will take care of you tomorrow.
Saumu Jumanne is an assistant lecturer, Dar es Salaam University College of Education (DUCE)
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