Cancer

Susan is from Mul-Baiyer in Western Highlands Province.

She worked as a nurse in West New Britain Province for 15 years. During that time, she suffered constant physical abuse at the hands of her husband.

“It’s not something to be ashamed of; I’m going to tell my story so young women like you can take better care of themselves,” she said as she gently touched my arm.

“He used to beat me up, over and over, especially targeting my head. I’ve had this sore on my head for almost seven years now. I went to Port Moresby; they scraped it off but it soon started up again.

This is due to a lack of system upgrades and essential healthcare facilities, highlighted Dr. Mahlon Paiva, an Obstetrician and Gynecologist at Paradise Private Hospital, during the Pinktober Breast Cancer awareness.

Dr. Paiva expressed concerns about the difficulties in early cancer detection and treatment within the country. Despite various attempts by non-government organizations and government health systems to create a comprehensive cancer care system, little progress has been made. The establishment of a national cancer registry, a goal since the 1950s, remains unrealized.

Both parents are appealing to the government, as well to think of ways to sponsor medical students.

An Oncologist is a doctor who treats cancer and provides medical care for a person diagnosed with cancer. 

“I would like to appeal to students, especially for medical students, you can go beyond. Currently, at POMGen we do not have an Oncologist. We have an adult cancer ward and children’s cancer ward, we do not have an Oncologist.

Many types of Leukemia exist and for the young and brave Tilesa, it is Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.

Tilesa’s parents, Leanne and Vagi are young parents of two daughters one of which is Tilesa. Since March they have been fighting the blood cancer.

“We found that she was constantly getting sick, every week we were getting her checked up and it was Malaria and it continued. So, we decided to go for a second opinion at PIH and they asked us to do a full blood count.

The story of her journey is going viral on social media and has caught the attention of several organizations.

To support the brave young cancer fighter, Trukai Industries Ltd stepped in to donate two bales of 20x1kg rice and over 20 merchandise.

Tilesa’s father, Vagi Sarwom, said Trukai’s support with rice and the merchandize items given will go towards raising funds for the much-needed medical treatment.

WOWS Kids Fiji reported that 25 deaths were recorded in 2020 and 13 last year.

Team Leader Mere William said the number of cases that they deal with has increased.

“We are on 74. Last year we went as, the highest was 80, for us last year, it was actually busy for us during the lockdown, we had many new cases that came, so some have passed on in the up until from November, December, January, we have lost some”.

Despite the restrictions brought by the pandemic, WOWS Kids Fiji continued to provide services.

The plaintiffs, aged between six and 16 at the time of the disaster, say they got cancer from radiation exposure.

All of them underwent surgery to remove parts or all of their thyroid glands, their lawyer said.

However, they may struggle to prove that the radiation led to their cancer.

Their lawsuit is seeking $5.4m (£4m) in compensation from the plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco).

A Tepco spokesman said the company was aware of the case filing and would address it once they had seen the details of the complaint.

He was widely regarded as one of the country's finest contemporary classical actors, with a long association with the company.

Its artistic director and Sir Antony's husband, Gregory Doran, had taken compassionate leave to care for him.

The company said it was "deeply saddened" by the news.

RSC chair Shriti Vadera said the actor was "beloved" in the organisation "and touched and enriched the lives of so many people".

The 44-year-old, who played Samuel "Screech" Powers in the popular 1990s US school-based sitcom, fell ill last week and was taken to hospital.

His representative, Roger Paul, said the actor is now waiting for further details.

"We will know the severity of it when the tests are done," Paul said, adding they expect an update next week.

Saved by the Bell ran for four seasons from 1989 to 1993 and followed a group of high school friends and their principal.

Through this partnership the PNGCF has visited over 20 locations across 5 provinces this month under the Pink Ribbon Labelled Tru Tru Wara Bottled Water.