Negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the management of cervical cancer patients in Zambia

International travel has largely been suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to this situation, Zambia has not been able to import radioactive isotopes for High Dose Rate (HDR) brachytherapy, Iridium 192 (I192) and this has led to suspension of treatment for patients. Cancer of the cervix is th...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inEcancermedicalscience Vol. 14; p. ed103
Main Authors Lombe, Dorothy, Phiri, Misheck, Msadabwe, Susan
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Bristol Cancer Intelligence 07.07.2020
Subjects
Cancer therapies
Cervical cancer
Coronaviruses
COVID-19
Disease
Hospitals
Pandemics
Planning
Radiation therapy
Radioisotopes
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2
Womens health
Zambia
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:International travel has largely been suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to this situation, Zambia has not been able to import radioactive isotopes for High Dose Rate (HDR) brachytherapy, Iridium 192 (I192) and this has led to suspension of treatment for patients. Cancer of the cervix is the most common cancer in Zambia and brachytherapy is a core component of the treatment armamentarium. Mitigation strategies may include external beam radiotherapy boost or hysterectomy but both systems are overburdened and fragile.
Bibliography:SourceType-Other Sources-1
content type line 63
ObjectType-Editorial-2
ObjectType-Commentary-1
ISSN:1754-6605
1754-6605
DOI:10.3332/ecancer.2020.ed103