Cancer soars in southern Africa

Lazarus Sauti

Cancer, the uncontrolled growth of cells, which can invade and spread to distant sites of the body, have severe health consequences, and is a leading cause of death.

Although incidences and mortalities are declining in high-income countries, cancer rates are rising quickly in southern Africa and other developing nations as member-states battle to keep infections under control, according to a study published in December last year.

The study, titled “Global Cancer Incidence and Mortality Rates and Trends: An Update”, published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention, looked at global cancer incidence and mortality rates up until 2012.

“Deaths from breast cancer, for example, doubled in Zimbabwe and Uganda between 1992 and 2007,” said the study.

A team led by Lindsey Torre, an epidemiologist at the American Cancer Society in Atlanta, United States, also found that southern Africa, like other developing nations, had the highest rates of infection-related cancers in the world.

These include stomach cancer, associated with infection by Helicobacter pylori bacteria; liver cancer, linked with hepatitis B or C virus infection; and cervical cancer, which is associated with human papilloma virus (HPV) infection.

In fact, cervical cancer, as per the study, is the third-highest cause of cancer-related deaths among women in southern Africa.

In the timeframe studied, Zimbabwe saw an average of 87 deaths per 100 000 women from cervical cancer, while in Malawi death rates stood at 76 women out of 100 000.

The study adds that around 21 percent of African women have a HPV infection at any given time, compared with just five percent in North America.

Scarce resources and so many competing priorities are causing cancer rates to soar in southern Africa, and this is likely to overwhelm the healthcare systems in the region.

Most citizens, both in urban and rural set-ups, in the region lack access to treatments as well as diagnostics of reasonable quality.

“Most countries in southern African are resource-challenged to deal effectively with prevention and appropriate treatment, as well as palliative care due to many factors such as biting poverty, poor follow-up culture as well as low levels of education,” Torre said.

The World Health Organisation (WHO), a specialised agency of the United Nations that is concerned with international public health, however, believes that to help the healthcare systems, southern African countries need to seriously invest in prevention, a fact supported by Torre who added that “this could include restrictions on tobacco sale, improved screening for cancer and initiatives to make vaccines for infections such as HPV and hepatitis B available and affordable.”

The WHO added: “Early detection, accurate diagnosis, and effective treatment, including pain relief and palliative care, help increase cancer survival rates and reduce suffering.

“Accordingly, governments in developing countries need to invest in prevention, and inclusive cancer control plans are needed to improve cancer prevention and care.”


Minister of Health and Child Care in Zimbabwe, Dr David Parirenyatwa, also emphasises that as a result of the rising cancer cases in the region, there is need for Ministries responsible for Health to increase access to early cancer screening of people through provision of mobile clinics and health education, especially in rural communities.

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