Cancer patients rely on continuous support even during festive season
The Cancer Association of Namibia (CAN) will officially start wrapping up their schedule this week for their annual recess from 18 December 2020 to 06 January 2021. However, their activities to support patients carry on and will only be interrupted very briefly between Christmas and New Year.
The association’s Chief Executive, Rolf Hansen said many important annual events and programmes could not take place this year due to Covid-19, which placed tremendous strain on their resources and their annual budget had to be managed on a day-to-day basis.
“Despite the challenges, the CAN board of directors management and employees maintained weekly meeting to execute the organisational strategic objectives and ensure sustainability and deliverables remain on course,” he explained.
He said even though this year has been difficult, patient support remains pivotal to them and that is why they recently approved financial assistance to 248 Namibian cancer patients totalling N$539,800. “These are cancer patients who have applied for our Patient Financial Assistance Programme (PFPa) during November,” confirmed Hansen.
He said the aid is provided to vulnerable cancer patients who meet the board-approved guidelines, and who struggle to make treatment co-payments. These patients are also in need of food, nutritional supplements and medication that is not available at the state pharmacies.
“In addition we are transporting 124 cancer patients over the festive period to ensure their treatment continues as normal and our interim homes will provide accommodation services until 16 December 2020, with only a short interruption over Christmas as the organisation goes into annual recess,” added Hansen.
Hansen extended his sincere gratitude to all who have supported their efforts to impact the lives of Namibians fighting cancer, because their support enabled them to execute their mandate, despite the harsh challenges 2020 has posed.
“All patients in need of supplementary products, aids and stoma care are invited to contact our dispensary team at [email protected] or 061 237740 to make the necessary arrangements for access to supplies during the festive period,” concluded Hansen.
