Evaluation of the Current Strategy for Prevention and Control of Cancer- Gaza Governorates
Date
2012-06-09
Authors
Wissam Abou Amer
وسام أبو عمرو
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Al-Quds University
Abstract
Universally, cancer disease is considered as one of the first causes of premature death and disability and
it is considered the third cause of death in Palestine. This study aims to evaluate the cancer control and
prevention in Gaza Governorates in order to provide information that could contribute to identify the
gaps in the strategy existence and development, to explore the implementation of the existing strategy and
to shed light on the real situation on the ground that may be helpful to enhance any underperformance
and identify future priorities.
The study is a triangulated, descriptive and cross sectional one that was conducted in order to evaluate
the cancer strategy and prevention in Gaza.. The qualitative data included interviews with key informants
as well focus groups with cancer patients. The quantitative data was represented by four checklists that
identified the number of the available beds and rooms for patients, available health care human
resources, diagnostic equipment and exploring the completeness of cancer patient’s files.
The results of the study revealed that there are gaps in the strategy of cancer control in Gaza
Governorates starting from planning up to implementation. Those gaps are mainly related to poor
financial and administrative coordination, shortages in health care human resources and inadequate
staffing, inappropriate infrastructure of oncology buildings and deficiencies in necessary equipment and
supplies. Moreover, there are heavy workloads on health personnel, prolonged waiting times for patients
joined with poor privacy and comfort ability. In addition, the results showed the absence of clear
guidelines and policies that should regulate the workflow and referral systems between health facilities.
Regarding the prevention and screening services for cancer, they are limited to some sporadic programs
and plans. In addition, Cancer diagnostic services are facing many barriers that lead to the delay in the
diagnosis of the disease. There are obvious shortages in some facilities which are necessary for diagnosis
as tumor marker test, Gamma Camera, Linear accelerator, MRI and CT scanners, and other factors
related to poor awareness of patients, physician and health system role. Regarding the offered services to
treat cancer disease, there are several obstacles that decrease the quality and completeness of care such
as frequent shortages in essential chemotherapy medications, lack of specialized health human resources
in specific types of cancer and the absence of radiotherapy treatment. This is joined by the absence of
palliative care and poor provided support to the cancer patients and their families.
The information system related to cancer diseases and services is also inadequate. There is an obvious
poor support for the cancer registry. In addition, there are serious problems in the patient’s medical
records. As an outcome, the cancer patient dissatisfaction is an important result associated with high
anxiety, fear, and blaming.
All of those factors would necessarily have its negative impacts on the overall quality of the health
services provided to cancer patients. This is reflected by the patients’ deep dissatisfaction with the
provided health care services that should decrease their anxiety, fear and hopelessness. The study
recommended enhancing the available cancer strategy as well as adopting advanced policies for cancer
prevention and palliative care. In addition, to improve the infrastructure of both facilities and human
resources for cancer control. The study also recommended the importance of improving the
communication between health personnel and cancer patients and to improve the existing information
system such as cancer registry and to increase the research studies related to cancer management and
control.