In health news around the week, experts have emphasised need for more efforts and funds to fight against cancer. Dr Cyprien Shyirambere, a pediatrician in charge of children cancer treatment at Butaro Cancer Centre, said efforts and resources allocated to cancer treatment were still low compared to HIV/AIDS and malaria. Shyirambere was speaking during a cancer awareness campaign in Kigali which is in line with the ongoing childhood cancer awareness month. He added that studies indicate that 45 children globally are diagnosed with cancer every day of which 85 per cent recover, yet in developing countries, only 30 per cent get treated. Dr Fidel Rubagumya, the founder and director of Rwanda Children’s Cancer Relief, also the organiser of the cancer awareness walk, reiterated that more efforts should be directed towards vulnerable children to access cancer treatment. Medics say the survival rate for children diagnosed with cancer is lower in the developing world, estimated to be less than 25 per cent against an 85 per cent survival rate in the developed world. The huge gap in survival rates is attributed to several factors, including poor infrastructure and socio-economic constraints. Meanwhile, Dr Paulin Ruhato Banguti, a consultant anaesthesiologist at King Faisal Hospital, was awarded a WFSA Innovation Award for his countrywide Anaesthesia Practice Network (APN) for education, mentorship and patient safety in Rwanda. WFSA stands for World Federation of Societies of Anaesthesiologists and according to a statement, Bunguti will be honoured on September 28. Bunguti’s innovation links anesthesia providers and other healthcare providers who work in district hospitals across Rwanda with an experienced mentor, in order to raise safety through implementation of practice protocols. Six innovations were selected as winners of the award. These include innovations from Dr Paulin Ruhato Bangutias well as Dr John Hyndland (New Zealand); Dr ArunaWickramasinghe (Sri Lanka); Dr Neha Singh (India); Dr David Peel (UK); and doctors Christopher Hudson, VirenNaik and Emma J Stodel (Canada). The winners will all attend an award ceremony at the World Congress of Anaesthesiologists in Hong Kong in 2016. Else where, at least 200 eye patients with eye cataracts from across the country are set to receive free eye treatment at Ruhengeri Hospital in Musanze District. The week-long operation is provided by Barraqueur Foundation, an international organisation whose goal is to provide eye care. The activity aims at finding long lasting solution for people who suffer from eye cataract and to reduce blindness which is mostly caused by the cataract, according to Dr Elena Barraquer, an ophthalmologist and leader of the Barraquer Foundation. The 200 beneficiaries were selected from the over 1,000 cataract patients who were initially screened. In a new development around the world, scientists have discovered a genetic clue to why some breast cancers relapse, which could lead to better treatment. A research team from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in Cambridge found that cancers that return were more likely to contain certain genes or combinations of genes. Targeting these genes with early treatments could be key, they said. The study is being presented at the European Cancer Congress in Vienna.
