No one will begrudge the contributions to the world made by people such as Patrick Swayze, Randy Pausch and others whose struggles with cancer have become famous. But amidst the “public suffering” of those who have been diagnosed with one form of the disease or another are thousands of others who remain nameless. Nowhere is this more true than in Africa.
According to the World Health Organisation, by 2020, African states will account for more than a million new cancer cases per year out of a total of 16-million cases worldwide. At the same time, Africa remains the continent least prepared to cope with the devastating effects of this new pandemic, having only a few cancer care services available.
As one researcher notes, “the state of health of people living in Africa must become a global concern, because it is more cost-effective to prevent a pandemic while it is in its infancy, rather than dealing with it at the development stage.”
Dollars and cents aside, it also is the right thing to do
According to the World Health Organisation, by 2020, African states will account for more than a million new cancer cases per year out of a total of 16-million cases worldwide. At the same time, Africa remains the continent least prepared to cope with the devastating effects of this new pandemic, having only a few cancer care services available.
As one researcher notes, “the state of health of people living in Africa must become a global concern, because it is more cost-effective to prevent a pandemic while it is in its infancy, rather than dealing with it at the development stage.”
Dollars and cents aside, it also is the right thing to do
1 comments:
Very interesting.. Cancer is not something we in the West here about from an African context.
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