I doubt the Solomon Islands has any screening procedures in place to test cigarette smokers for potential lung cancer despite it is known that many people, including young adults, smoke heavily.
Even screening women for breast cancer is said to be suspended at the National Referral Hospital’s Cancer Unit because there is no longer a functioning mammogram machine in working condition.
I don’t know the situation at the NRH for the testing of cervical cancer for women and PSA testing for men for the possibility of having prostate cancer.
Cancer screening programmes are essential for the possibility of lung cancer, cervical cancer and prostate cancer and screening for the likelihood of other forms of cancer but I am not confident the country’s main referral hospital is adequately equipped and staffed to undertake such vital screening programmes.
Former Prime Minister, Danny Phillip, spoke out today (in another context) of the Solomon Islands having been forgotten for 80 years by one particular country, but to me the NRH has been forgotten too and to this day does not have its own budget to function independently.
It is a sad reflection that when NCDS are the main causes of the NRH’S patient’s admission, including NCD related deaths from heart disease, stroke, hypertension, liver disease, diabetes, cancer and lung disease, the NRH does not have the equipment, financial resources, facilities and staffing to effectively cope with the ever increasing illnesses and morbidity associated with NCDS.
The same remains the case with screening and assessment of patients suffering from rheumatic heart disease and for their offshore transfer to a hospital for treatment and likely surgical intervention.
I would add the plight of the hundreds of former NRH patients still awaiting prosthetic limbs to give them back their lost mobility.
When it comes to talk of having taken their eyes of the ball, I have to say the NRH in particular has been neglected over many years by the government of the day and a collective of diplomatic partners.
Referring back to the importance of screening for the possibility of lung cancer by smokers, the UK is undertaking a Lung Health Check Programme as part of a nationwide drive to catch cancer early. The UK National Health Service (NHS) is warning people who have smoked that the checks are vital because lung cancer checks are vital because lung cancer is particularly difficult to identify in its early stages.
I believe the same to be true of prostate cancer and why PSA testing for men over 40-45 in important.
Yours sincerely
Frank Short
