Small Island States

I would be interested to know about cancer control strategies for small island states. One radiotherapy machine in our own country, with a population of c.150,000, would bring us to a developed world ratio. Is this economically viable? The economies of scale make small island states, in every sector, very expensive.

Here we have an agreement with the ex-colonial power that serious medical cases are evacuated to Europe for treatment – this is clearly expensive and open to abuse and equally, the bureaucratic delays involved in such a system put the patient’s life at risk. Kezia would have been dead if we had had to rely on this system. Once a patient is within the healthcare system of the ex-colonial power, institutional racism often leads to unsatisfactory treatment.

But, even if cancer treatment facilities are to remain unavailable here, diagnostic facilities require vast improvement. The techniques/skills to accurately diagnose Kezia’s leukaemia were unavailable. A programme to promote PAP smear testing (or even vaccination) for cervical cancer (one of the most common forms of cancer in Africa) would be economically viable and effective.

I imagine in the Caribbean, with far more small island states than around Africa, the inter-state healthcare network is far more developed. But still the expense, both to the states involved and the individuals must be crippling. In the Pacific I imagine the far-greater distances involved make the challenge of providing adequate heathcare even greater.

I hope to look into this further.