The government has been urged to provide legislative and policy certainty to ensure cancer patients have access to the healthcare they need, with activists saying the system is failing the people who need it most.
Currently, the only policy framework on cancer comprises cervical and breast cancer policies and the palliative care strategic framework. Thus far, the government has yet to develop a national cancer control plan, reports Health-e News.
Activists say the public healthcare system is failing to fulfil the right to access health for cancer patients, due to various reasons, including:
• Issues with policy creation and implementation;
• The structure of public healthcare; and
• The current funding model of healthcare.
No specific legal framework
Khanyisa Mapipa, an activist who works as an attorney for health rights programmes at SECTION27, says there is no specific legal framework relating to cancer as a disease under the right to health in the Constitution, and no budget has been allocated to deal with it.
“Although the state understands that cancer is an important disease, there is still no legal framework regulating how the treatment should go.”
Speaking at the CANSA/Cancer Alliance seminar titled Unpacking the implications of constitutional guarantees on the right to health for cancer patients on Tuesday, she added: “The state is only bound to take reasonable steps within its available resources to progressively realise the rights under section 27.”
According to a study by the Cancer Alliance in 2021, SA has an incomplete policy framework with policy implementation lagging even further. The policies for prostate, childhood and lung cancer are included.
Meanwhile, the breast cancer policy was developed and approved at national level in 2017 but not at provincial level.
The palliative care strategic framework was developed and approved in 2017 but is yet to be implemented.
Importance of collaborations
National chairperson of the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) Sibongile Tshabalala has urged all non-profit organisations that advocate for proper access to healthcare services, to unite and fight for patients’ rights.
“It does not only require oncologists or the government’s response to these issues. It also needs us, as activists, as patients and survivors, to unite to fight cancer and ensure access to treatment,” she said.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) states that cancer is the second leading cause of death globally, accounting for an estimated 9.6m deaths or one in six deaths.
Long waiting periods
Another challenge faced by patients is the long waiting period for treatment. Some wait years for essential treatment at public health facilities.
Dr Duvern Ramiah, head of Radiation Oncology at Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital, said they had been waiting for radiation equipment machinery for four years. However, the tender process has dragged on, affecting the provision of services.
“The hospital has no rapid therapy available either, which is necessary to treat patients with cervical cancer,” he said.
“The reality is that patients are dying unnecessarily once referred to our radiation oncology unit. We cannot buy a piece of equipment, although the budget is there for it.”
Health-e News article – SA activists intensify fight for cancer patient rights (Open access)
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