Namibian cancer patient suffers in silence

A 55-year-old cancer stricken albino is physically deteriorating in his sister's house in Namibian capital Windhoek suburb of Okuryangava.

The chronically sick, fast-declining, lanky middle-aged man is suffering tremendously due to the lack of sufficient palliative treatment for the effects of chronic malignant skin cancer in nearby state hospitals.

As Namibia does not have a hospice or chronic care facilities or accommodation in the state system, Abraham Ekandjo and his family and others like him have fallen through the cracks and are receiving inadequate support for their serious medical and emotionally distressing situation.

Statistics from the Cancer Association of Namibia (CAN), which are compiled together with those of the government, show that in Namibia, cancer cases have been on the rise since 2006, with a total of 1,625 cases detected then compared to 3,092 recorded in 2012. In 2012, 458 cases of breast cancer were recorded, almost double the 229 cases recorded in 2006.

State doctors diagnosed Ekandjo with skin cancer in 2004, and since then he has struggled to obtain proper care from health professionals whom he claims always turn him away.

Since last year, the cancer has progressed rapidly and has eaten away at the skin and flesh on his face and right leg. He now has a hole in his face that has become so infected that he has extreme difficulty even chewing his food.

When preparing for this interview, the once very active employee of TransNamib where he worked loading trains could barely lift his walking stick. Covering the huge wound on his face with a towel while trying his best to swat away flies, he walked slowly, making his way outside to tell his story.

His illness has forced the exhausted single man to remain house bound because he fears the people staring at him and turning away in disgust because of his visible facial wounds.

"My room is my sanctuary. I do not want to go out and be a nuisance to people. The smell of my wound is unbearable therefore I do not want to inconvenience people," he said with his head facing down to avoid eye contact.

His family said that he has contemplated suicide because he feels he is a burden on his sister who continues to steadfastly stand by him.

"I know that my cancer cannot be cured, but all I want is to get treatment for my facial wound but it seems even the doctors are scared to touch me," he said.

Linda Daniel (Ekandjo's sister) recalls an incident when she took her brother to the hospital. She said she was dumbfounded when they went in for consultation and examination and the doctor could not even look at her brother.

"The man just sat in his seat and started scribbling on a piece of paper without even examining my brother to assess the severity of his condition," she said.

Although the sister loves her brother very much, she says that looking after him is very difficult because she does not know how to properly care for him.

"I am hoping that they can close the wound for me so that I can have a slightly more normal life," he said.

The family said that Ekandjo needs 90,000 Namibian dollars (7,000 U.S. dollars) to travel to South Africa for an operation to address the big hole in his face. He believes that the cancer spread because he did not receive proper care when it was first diagnosed.

In counterpoint to the complaints raised by Ekandjo and his sister, a doctor from the Windhoek Central Hospital Cancer Clinic, who preferred to remain anonymous, said that they had known Ekandjo as a patient for over five years.

According to the health professional, they regularly admitted Ekandjo in the hospital for short periods, especially when he had undergone radiotherapy or surgery.

"What the family needs to understand is that we cannot admit any chronic patient in the ward for a long time because the hospital has a limited number of beds," he said.

Ekandjo's tumour has reached a point where there was no possibility of recovery and this was something that the clinic had discussed with both the patient and the family.

A 2014 report compiled by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) says cancer deaths will likely rise from 8.2 million to 13 million per year as the world's population grows and ages and more people adopt risky lifestyles.

The IARC report was released on the eve of World Cancer Day, and was compiled by more than 250 scientists from over 40 countries. It is the first such report in six years.