On October 5 Steve Jobs, the co-founder of Apple Computers died of pancreatic cancer. Earlier, on September 25 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Wangari Mataai, had died of ovarian cancer. The death of the duo has once again thrown into international focus the growing case of cancer in the world.
ACS Journalism Fellow Olayinka Oyegbile writes for the Nation. He submitted this news report from his native Nigeria on November 9th.
Lagos, Nigeria — There are thousands of other less known people who are dying or have died of similar ailment around the world whose cases were not reported. The World Health Organisation (WHO) as a way of drawing attention to the growing rate of this non-communicable disease has declared October as breast cancer awareness week. However, the growing cases are raising concern across the world. Last month the United Nations held a high level meeting of heads of governments and presidents on non-communicable diseases. The essence of the meeting was to raise concern over the disease.
Dr. Asha-Rose Migiro, the deputy secretary general of the United Nations. ACS Photo
Listed among major cancer risk factors are tobacco smoking, alcohol, lack of exercise, change in lifestyles, among others. The issue of tobacco smoking has been tackled by the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), which through the World Health Organisation(WHO) has brought out the first global health treaty regulating tobacco smoking, sales and advertising across the world. Through the FCTC it is hoped that sale and consumption of tobacco could be regulated for the safety of the general populace.
With this achieved, many are wondering when the growing menace of alcohol is going to receive the same regulation. In Nigeria for instance, drinking spots are springing up and more citizens are having access to alcohol thus raising the volume of the drinks consumed. Recently, Dr. Asha-Rose Migiro, the Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations, while addressing journalists at the world body’s headquarters in New York in listing the easiest way to curb the spread of cancer said, “The best buys for population-wide interventions include tobacco-control measures, including raising taxes and bans on advertising and smoking in public places; raising taxes on alcohol and enforcing bans on alcohol advertising.”
The ban on the direct advertising of tobacco has been achieved. However, the advertising of alcohol is still a far cry. In fact, no campaign on it has started at all. Most alcoholic drinks today associate their drinks to sports. Sports’ advertising is great for them. This is raising concerns among cancer control experts who feel it is a dangerous direction that the world is heading to.
Alcohol, according to Prof Femi Williams, a renowned cancer expert is a risk factor that should not be ignored. He added, “Alcohol is responsible for large proportion of the health-care burden in almost all populations and its continued use also shortens the onset of heart disease, stroke, cancers, and liver cirrhosis.”
At the UN high level meeting held last month on non communicable diseases, the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon while addressing the forum also stressed the importance of curbing alcohol consumption as a way of checking the incidence of cancer. He said, “We should encourage individuals to make the smart choices that will protect their health. Exercise, eat well, limit alcohol consumption and stop smoking.”
He observed that if the world came together to tackle non-communicable diseases, “we can do more than heal individuals — we can safeguard our very future. We must act together to carry out its provisions and bring non-communicable diseases into our broader global health and development agenda.”
In Nigeria with the growing popularity of drinking joints which are opened indiscriminately at street corners, barbing and hair dressing salons, car wash garages etc the epidemic of cancer may not be too far off.
Africa Cancer Centre to the rescue
After the death of former President Umaru Yar’ Adua the International Cancer Centre which was conceived by his wife Turai seems to be in limbo.
The fund raising event that was done for the centre at which billions of naira was collected has become stunted as nothing has been heard about the centre.
This has led many cancer patients in the country to be going through a lot of trauma and spending lots of money to get treatment. However, cancer patients may soon smile as the Africa Cancer Centre, the brain child of Prof Femi Williams is soon to take off in Nigeria. The Centre in the 2011 budget got N400m voted for it. This is expected to assist in its establishment and hasten the care and research into cancer across the continent as the centre is projected to serve the African continent.
Prof Williams who is the first African Scholar-in-Residence of the National Cancer Institute, in Bethesda Maryland USA, studied has produced lung cancer in rats using silica (sand) transformed cells in vitro.
His wealth of experience is to be put at works at the ACC when it fully takes off.
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Posted by: Tiffany and co outlet | 27 October 2012 at 04:32 AM
My grandfather died of leikemua. An uncle survived prostate cancer. Another uncle is a survivor of throat cancer. My father and all of his brothers have had melanoma. All, with the exception of my grandfather, had gone through screening and were treated as early as possible. With my grandfather, it appeared that he got it so quickly that it was not treatable for someone of his age.Cancer, regardless of what kind it is, is a terrible thing. They are all equal in my mind.I'm sick to death of the prostate cancer vs. Breast cancer and the complaints that one (breast) gets more PR than the other (prostate). It's not a girls vs. boys cancer. I actually believe that Breast cancer gets more attention than prostate cancer because women don't have prostates, but men have Breast tissue and can get Breast cancer as well. Breast cancer can affect everyone, not just one gender.If you want to accurately compare the attention that girls vs. boys cancers get, you should compare prostate and cervical or ovarian cancers. I expect you will find that prostate cancer gets greater PR than cervical or ovarian cancers.
Posted by: Aeesar | 16 October 2012 at 08:18 AM