American Cancer Society Convenes 24 Journalists in Tanzania for Media Summit to Address Africa Cancer and Tobacco Burden

On the first full day of the American Cancer Society Media Summit in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, 24 journalists from eight African countries engaged in discussions with experts from the Society and other global cancer and tobacco control organizations on the emerging threats of cancer and tobacco use in Africa. The Media Summit is generously supported by Oracle and the Canadian Cancer Society. Two American Cancer Society staff, Thomas Glynn, PhD, director, Cancer Science and Trends and director, International Cancer Control; and Evan Blecher, economist, International Tobacco Control Research, joined other tobacco control experts in making presentations on tobacco use and control in Africa, including Tosin Orogun, programme manager, African Tobacco Control Regional Initiative (ATCRI); Sverre Berg Lutnaes, senior advisor, International Affairs, Norwegian Cancer Society; and Lutgard Kagaruki, Tanzania Tobacco Control Forum. Cancer survivor Samantha Galliet, director, Campaigning for Cancer based in South Africa, and Haskell Ward, a representative of SEACOMM and an advisor to the Society, talked about the importance of survivor stories and advocacy in raising awareness about cancer. In group exercises, the journalists discussed with cancer and tobacco control experts the impact of various cancer and tobacco myths commonly heard on the continent and shared information that could be used to debunk these myths through media stories. In the evening, a panel of cancer control experts spoke with journalists about the challenges and opportunities involved with Africa’s growing cancer burden. The panel discussion was moderated by Otis Brawley, MD, chief medical officer, American Cancer Society, and included these other cancer control experts: Twalib Ngoma, MD, president of AORTIC and executive director, Ocean Road Cancer Institute, Tanzania; Lynette Denny, secretary treasurer of AORTIC and professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Cape Town, South Africa; Olufunmilayo Olopade, MD, FACP, professor of medicine and human genetics and director, Cancer Risk Clinic, University of Chicago Medical Center; and Serigne Gueye, professor of urology, University of Cheikh Anta Diop and head of urology, Hospital General de Grand Yoff, Senegal.

Comments

[Dr. Nagaraj]

Good news. Cigarette smoking has been identified as the second leading risk factor for death from any cause worldwide. In 2000, an estimated 4.83 million deaths were attributed to cigarette smoking globally, with nearly half occurring in the developing world. With a population of 1.3 billion, China is the world's largest producer and consumer of tobacco and bears a large proportion of deaths attributable to smoking worldwide.

-aadautech, a cancer drug discovery and therapeutics blog