By: Anele Nduzulwana and Sandile Lukhozi

A discussion intensified at the Durban City Hall as people shared their knowledge and opinions about cancer, on Friday.

The discussion was organized by Sinomusanothando Community Development (SCD) as a cancer awareness campaign, which started with a march at Pixley KaSeme Street.

Dr Thandeka Mazibuko, the founder of SCD Foundation, said that the aim of the discussion was to raise awareness and educate society about cancer.

“Cancer can be beaten but the issue is not mostly talked about in our nation. People are not informed and we thank the municipality for opening doors for us to make people aware,”
Mazibuko said.

She added that cancer can be cured if treated at a development stage but people usually get diagnosed when it is too late to get a cure, because they do not know the symptoms.

African Economic Expansion Network Executive Director, Chris Koehs, encouraged victims to stay informed about all the sickness developments in their body.

He said, “Three years back I lost my father who died two years after he was diagnosed and it is painful because we were told that the kind of cancer he had is curable if it is diagnosed
early.”

Thulani Yaka, a cancer survivor, has a disability that started in 2002 when he was diagnosed with cancer in his spine.

He said that he was forced to quit grade 12 in 2006 and had to spend two years in Addington Hospital.

“I went for operation in hospital and was diagnosed after the doctors checked the pain in my spine,” he added.

Medical student Simphiwe Nkosi said that many people are not informed about cancer because the issue is not often talked about in public.