JOHANNESBURG - South Africa is facing a critical shortage of urologists, with growing concern about declining interest in the field.
Fewer than ten people in the country have completed PhDs in urology, and there are currently fewer than 300 registered specialists, most of them based in major cities.
The shortage is raising alarm, as it contributes to delays in diagnosing serious conditions such as prostate cancer.
Limited access to specialists means many patients are only diagnosed at an advanced stage, reducing treatment options and lowering survival rates.
Professor Kgomotso Mathabe is among the few experts working in this field.
She said access remains one of the biggest challenges.
"That already means that people who are in the peripheral areas and the rural areas do not have access. That is already a huge problem," she said.
"So patients, often with many conditions, even in conditions that are better served and better supported, often present to the tertiary centres late, and so it's trying to go from the local hospital, local clinic to the local hospital, eventually at a tertiary centre.
"So it takes a long time for patients to find their way to us."
Mathabe said as a result, doctors frequently see patients with advanced disease. In the case of prostate cancer, this can lead to severe complications such as spinal cord compression, where the cancer spreads to the spine.
"What that means is that the prostate cancer has spread around the body, and it has spread to the lower spine, to the lower back. The patients are then unable to walk, so they are paralysed."