American Cancer Society (Washington, DC)
11 November 2009
press release
As leading health, government, and civil society leaders gather in Africa this week for the 3rd African Organization for Research and Training in Cancer (AORTIC) meeting, cancer is already poised to become the world's leading cause of death in 2010.
It is now projected that cancer will account for 12 million annual deaths worldwide by 2030. In Africa, where the diseases are projected to grow at an alarming rate, more than 70 percent of cases are diagnosed when it is too late. In 2002 alone, cancer claimed the lives of 412,000 people across the African continent. This figure is expected to double by 2020. Pain medicine and palliative care are rarely available in Africa for those who suffer from late stage cancers.
"We have an opportunity this week to accelerate efforts to prevent the catastrophic impact of cancer in Africa if we turn prevention into practice," said Dr. Twalib Ngoma, President of AORTIC. "But these diseases must become a priority on the health agenda of each African country so that it receives immediate resources and attention."
In a region of the world most notably affected by HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other infectious diseases, cancer is now emerging as a serious public health threat. To date, advocacy activities have received little support from many African governments, and cancer awareness, prevention, and treatment programs have suffered. Cervical cancer, which is easily prevented or treated and has essentially been eradicated in western nations, is the leading cancer killer among African women. Simultaneously, as African nations are facing the highest increase in the rate of tobacco use among all developing countries -- and the tobacco industry is targeting new African markets -- the continent is not adequately resourced to address cancer and other chronic diseases.
"Africa's rising cancer burden is not a problem of Africa alone," said Otis W. Brawley, M.D., chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society. "For the first time in history, we have the tools in hand to prevent a pandemic. We must stand together to place this disease higher on the global health agenda, designate resources to fight it, and share evidenced-based practices to save lives."
In addition to the lack of adequate resources to fight cancer in Africa, health leaders on the continent still battle a number of myths associated with the diseases. In advance of the AORTIC Cancer in Africa conference, the American Cancer Society specifically convened a Media Summit of 24 journalists from eight African nations. The journalists discussed these myths, as well as shared reporting methods for overcoming the challenges covering the rising cancer and tobacco burden in Africa.
Working with 35 representatives of African nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) convened by the Society in a pre-conference workshop, five particular cancer myths were identified which contribute to the barriers in cancer awareness in Africa. According to the group, common myths include the following:
Solutions to address these myths include strengthening relationships between journalists and NGOs so that journalists have access to scientifically credible, accurate, and timely data, and also to humanize the stories on cancer and destigmatize the disease by profiling survivors.
The pre-conference workshop for NGOs is part of a two-year Africa program supported financially by Oracle. These AORTIC workshops convened 35 NGO representatives from Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, and Tanzania to share grant project outcomes from a new American Cancer Society-facilitated network of leading African cancer and health NGOs. The initiative aims to strengthen these organizations' work with government officials, media, healthcare centers, community-based organizations, and private industry in an effort to improve programs and services for those affected by cancer. The initiative also aims to set cancer priorities and responses through research and pilot interventions.
Read comments. Write your own.
Copyright © 2009 American Cancer Society. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
Africa ALWAYS learns the western bad habits very FAST. Would be nice if the same were the case with learning how to achive western Technological advancements. Even God seemingly cannot save this continent of death and squalor from their LAZY, SELFISH, SHAMELESS, and PRIDELESS HOOLIGANS who rule them.