Rotary Cancer run champion to secure land title

A lot will be at stake during this year’s Rotary Cancer run after organisers unveiled new partners .

Bakaima property dealers were on Friday unveiled at a function where it was also announced that among the prizes for the winners will be a fully titled 50 x 100 piece of land in Bujuuko, along Mityana Road.

“We are always welcome to give a helping hand where we feel we can. Because of the good cause to help people suffering from cancer, we decided to throw our weight behind the Rotary Cancer run. We decided to give a piece of land to boost competition and once we have a big number of runners we can hit our target,” said Karim Kaweesa, the Managing Director of Bakaima property dealers.

Stephen Mwanje, the Patron of Rotary Cancer Foundation said  they are seeking to raise at least shs3 billion during this year’s edition of the Cancer run as part of the balance of shs9 billion for the construction of two linear accelerator bunkers at  the Rotary Cancer Centre at Nsambya hospital.

“At Nsambya(Rotary Cancer Centre), we  can do chemotherapy and surgery but unfortunately most of these cancers are stubborn and need radiotherapy yet most of our people cant afford to fly abroad to do this. To ensure radiotherapy can be done here, we need to construct a centre of excellence for Cancer treatment in Uganda,” Mwanje said.

“We currently have a gap of shs9 billion to complete the two linear accelerator bunkers and unveil the Cancer centre of excellence by 2027. Therefore, we must raise at least shs3 billion each year starting from 2024 until 2027.”

He said that every year, 35000 new cases of cancer  are registered in Uganda and of these, 22000 die,

“These people die because they are diagnosed late. The earlier you know about your situation, the higher the chances of your survival. This responsibility is for everyone. We need to  create awareness and increase chances of survival. You can survive cancer if diagnosed early. This is the awareness we need to create.”

Michael Niyetegeka, the chairperson of this year’s organizing committee said they will be looking at 60,000 participants not only in Uganda but in many cities across the world where there are Rotarians.

Centenary Bank Managing Director, Fabian Kasi said the cancer run is one of the initiatives they support as a way of giving back to the community.

“This is yet another significant moment to continue with the cause of supporting a cause that touches members of the community.  We believe that giving back to community and supporting initiatives that promote health and wellbeing of the people is an obligation to us,” Kasi said.