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Bianca Leboho Herald Reporter
A consortium of investors in the health care sector has opened the country’s first privately run advanced cancer treatment and screening facility after injecting $10 million into the bus- iness.

The Oncocare Cancer Treatment Centre in Harare’s Newlands suburb officially opened its doors to the public yesterday and will complement services offered by the Government at Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals in Harare and Mpilo Central Hospital in Bulawayo.

Oncore Centre chief executive officer Mr Ben Deda said the facility was the sole one-stop cancer management clinic of its kind in Zimbabwe, which would benefit patients sufering from different types of cancers.

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Mr Deda said the clinic had a composite package that included diagnostic tests and also offered radiology and pathology after which radiotherapy and chemotherapy could be carried out at the treatment stage.

“Generally, people think that once diagnosed with cancer, it is a death sentence. It’s not a death sentence. We want to improve on early screening and early protection and although it is privately owned, this facility will cater for both public and private patients,” said Mr Deda.

He said the clinic had a very experienced team of medical specialists, which included oncologists, radiologists, pathologists, medical physicists, dosimetrists, physicians, biomedical engineers and experts in oncology pharmaceuticals.

Medical services director Dr Amos Rumhizha said the facility offered unique, state-of-the-art and multi-disciplionary oncology treatments providing hope to the more than 7 000 people diagnosed with cancer in Zimbabwe an- nually.

“The main difference between this facility and others is that we are trying to promote what we call group practice where doctors don’t come here as individuals, but as groups so that there is continuity in the treatment of patients.

“We will have follow-ups and records used to do research to guide us in terms of our management of patients.

“We will have all services under one roof such as pathology, X-rays and ultrasound scans so that patients don’t have to run around different places to have all these things done,” said Dr Ru- mhizha.

Apart from diagnostic tests and treatment the facility also offers counselling services, education and advocacy as well as clinical research.