Zimbabwean actress Tinopona Katsande, battling cervical cancer, is making a clarion call to wealthy Zimbabweans to support those dealing with the disease in a country where the cost of treatment is high and the population has very limited knowledge of the illness. Katsande has been receiving treatment from a private hospital because state-run hospitals lack a working radiotherapy machine needed to complete treatment. ''We've got to come together to buy at least one radiotherapy machine,'' she said adding ''you cannot holistically treat cancer without a full treatment. And one important part of it is the radiotherapy without the machine. That cannot be done,'' she told VOA's Columbus Mavhunga in Harare. The number of new cancer cases has more than doubled to 7,800 from 2009 to 2019, according to Zimbabwe's latest figures. The health ministry did not confirm or deny that state-run hospitals lack working radiotherapy machines and declined a VOA interview on this issue.