Who is Professor Andrew Zolani Cakana: Zimbabwe’s Finest Medical Doctor
By Desire Tshuma
Professor Andrew Zolani Cakana is a medical doctor based in Zimbabwe .He has served in the medical technology close to forty years and since then he proceeded to take a medical degree and subsequently specialised in haematology and transfusion medicine in the United Kingdom [Uk] culminating in passing the membership examinations ,Member of the Royal College of Pathologists [MRCPath].
Professor Cakana enrolled in 1977 at the University of Zimbabwe as Medical Laboratory Scientist student .The course duration was six years ,first four years covered all pathology disciplines and the additional two years were for specialising in one of the disciplines .He finished his first course in in 1982 and worked in Zimbabwe as Laboratory Scientist till 1987. In 1990 he left the country to Ireland to train Haematology for further six years .
He did his attachment in the Netherlands where he was researching Human Immuno Virus [HIV] ,while on attachment he did blood transfusion in Italy , France and Finland . After finishing his six year course in Finland he came back to Zimbabwe in 1997 and lectured at the University of Zimbabwe while doing private practice till 2003. In 2004 Prof Cakana again left the country to work abroad ,his first year abroad he worked in South Wales and went to Barbados as a lecturer in both government and in the private institutions .
In 2005 he went to Belgium and he joined Johson &Johnson for three years.Professor Cakana is the first medical doctor to introduce Fanconi in Zimbabwe after researching the disease . Fanconi is a bone marrow disease which is difficult to diagnose and as for now there is no medical institution in Zimbabwe that can treat this disease most of Fanconi patients are referred to South Africa and India for treatment .
Prof Cakana is one of the team members who developed the drug called VELCADE SC ,he travelled around the world demonstrating how this drug works and he won several awards .He was awarded Leadership award by Johson & Johson on 3 October 2012 , Standard Leadership award 3 November 2012 and Demonstrating Outstanding award in March 25 2008.
Professor Cakana has vast experience in the medical field and has acquired several qualifications in different examinations that he wrote from 1977 ,the overall training period in different specialties is 19 years . He is a registered medical practitioner or haematologist by the Medical Council [UK] ,Zimbabwe Medical Council ; Medical Council of Barbados and Health Council of Bermuda .
Currently he works at the College of Health Sciences in Harare as a professor of Haematology at government and private hospitals. Medical School of the University of Zimbabwe , a visiting professor of haematology at the National University of Science and Technology [NUST] and has maintained interest in clinical research in the pharmaceutical industry working on new drug for the treatment of multiple myeloma and other haematological malignancies.
