| Cancer-related training programme launched |
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| Wednesday, 10 September 2008 | |
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Health Minister Jerry Narace meanwhile said records from the National Cancer Registry revealed that more than 18,000 people in this country were afflicted with cancer between the years 1995-2004. He said all indications are that the figures are set to increase. According to the projections by the World Health Organisation, Narace added, new cases of cancer are set to increase from 11.3 million in 2007 to 15.5 million by the year 2013. Both Mason and Narace were speaking at the launch of the BSc Oncology Nursing Programme yesterday at the Learning Resource Centre at the University of the West Indies, St Augustine. UWI has partnered with the Ministry of Health and the McMaster University in Ontario, Canada, to bring the much needed programme to T&T. Mason said the oncology training programme in Trinidad and Tobago is one of the best investments Government has ever made. "It is a programme that will be a model for the rest of the world. Having a programme like this in a place like Trinidad is an opportunity to help share the pride of the country. Trinidad and Tobago has an opportunity to be a leader in the establishment of a programme such as this, forging the way to a training which is evidence-based," Mason said. Students have already been enrolled in the programme and, according to Narace, part-time study arrangements can be made to accommodate registered nurses who wish to access it. Narace added that the National Oncology Centre is expected to become operational before the end of 2009. In the interim, he said equipment and systems were being upgraded at the National Radiotherapy Centre in St James. Director of the School of Advanced Nursing Education (SANE) at UWI, Dr Meryl Price, said the launch of the training programme signals a new level of nursing in Trinidad and Tobago. "We are moving with the new technology-that is the highlight of our programme in collaboration with the McMaster University. We have embarked upon a technique second to none," said Price.
excerpted from the Trinidad Express |
CANCER is the third leading cause of death in this country, preceded
only by cardiovascular diseases and diabetes, oncologist and
commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health, Dr Terry
Mason, confirmed yesterday. It is also the second leading discharge
diagnosis out of all the hospitals combined in Trinidad and Tobago.
