Unfortunately, in Tanzania, there is not a great choice of treatment options. The Ocean Road Cancer Institute in Dar es Salaam is Tanzania’s only specialised cancer hospital, and it offers chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatments. The Muhimbili hospital, also in Dar es Salaam is the main referal hospital for breast surgery, but there are also district hospitals around the country that can offer surgery services.
The problem is that there is little or no after-surgery/treatment care, and this is where the Tanzania Breast Cancer Foundation hopes to fill a gap, with advise about how to look after yourself and get the best out of life after treatment.
At Ocean Road, some treatments (eg radiotherapy and some drugs) are free, but there are charges associated with other treatments.
Many women who can afford it or who have health insurance, go overseas for treatment, which is disruptive and expensive, but offers more choice. Some of the relatively cheaper options include Nairobi and India.
ANGELA/ANNETTE: We need to discuss how to deal with this page. I need to understand how the referal sytem works and what hospital options are available. I feel that this is a very important page, though. Also if the treatment options are v poor, how do we say this on our website?? Would vbe good to have list of hospitals with names of consultants/numbers etc. Will this work?
OCEAN ROAD CANCER INSTITUTE
MUHIMBILI
AGA KHAN
We need funding: We are a non-profit organisation dedicated to helping women with breast cancer. We need funds to do this. We want to build a hospice; we want to offer counselling services; we want to run complementary medicine classes; we want to give financial assistance to women who cannot afford treatment; we want to have a comprehensive library of literature and printed information to send patients; we want to create a one-stop-shop centre of excellence & support. Please become a donor and help us raise funds. Contact: info@tzbreastcancer.org
Breast Cancer does not need to be a death sentence. Read about some of the women who are living their lives to the full. Our Stories
October is International Breast Cancer Awareness Month. If you have an idea for fundraising (an event, sponsored walk etc), please contact us: info@tzbreastcancer.org
