New cancer cases and deaths in Africa are projected to double by 2030 and international organizations, local governments and local leaders need to step up and work together to tackle the challenge.
The epidemic of cancer has the potential to grow even faster than current projections as there is a greater adoption of behaviors such as smoking, unhealthy diets, and physical inactivity, said Richard Wender, chief cancer control officer at American Cancer Society, a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C. with a mission to eliminate cancer.
There were more than 600,000 new cancer cases in Africa in 2008, with a projection of 1.28 million new cases in 2030, Wender said at a recent event in Washington, D.C. Prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed among men and breast cancer among women in most countries in Africa, he added.
About the author
Jennifer Piettedisgeneration
Jennifer Ehidiamen is a Nigerian writer who is passionate about communications and journalism. She has worked as a reporter and communications consultant for different organizations in Nigeria and overseas. She has an undergraduate degree in mass communication from the Nigerian Institute of Journalism, Lagos, and M.A. in business and economics from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, New York. In 2014, she founded Rural Reporters (www.ruralreporters.com) with the goal of amplifying underreported news and issues affecting rural communities.
