Malabo — The director general of the World Health Organisation (WHO), Margaret Chan, said Wednesday in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, contacts will be held with pharmaceutical manufacturers to discuss the reduction of cancer treatment drugs prices.

This was said during the discussion of the matter related to uterine cancer in WHO African region, its current situation and perspectives, when most of addressers pointed out high prices as the main challenge in the treatment of cancer.

She added that judging from information from the countries attending the event, the situation is worrying, although its dimension is not fully known. The official appealed for education and information, mainly within the youths as, she added, the situation has much to do with life style.

Margaret Chan said cancer is a very complex disease and requires support from partners, as the cost of treatment is too high. The WHO official announced that a meeting on methods of coverage, prevention and treatment of cancer will take place in September this year in Uganda.

However, uterine cancer is the most frequent form of the disease and one of the main causes of women death in under-developed countries. According to the World Health Organisation, in 2007 there were in the world more than 500,000 new cases of uterus cancer, more than 90 percent of which in developing countries.

In Africa south of Sahara, a total of 72,000 new cases were recorded, with the death of 56,000 women. Africa records strong indexes of the disease, with rates higher than 50 per 100,000.