African first ladies attend conference on cancer
It is estimated that cancer kills over eight million people globally every year, constituting close to 13 per cent of the total deaths worldwide. Seventy per cent of cancer deaths occur in low and middle-income countries, majority of which are in Africa.
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Worried about the increasing number of deaths on the continent through cervical, breast and prostate cancer, African first ladies formed the Forum of African First Ladies Against Breast, Cervical and Prostate Cancer in 2007, and initiated the Stop Cervical, Breast and Prostate Cancer in Africa (SCCA) Conference, to help create awareness of the disease.
The 9th SCCA conference opened at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) in Nairobi, Kenya, last Monday, on the theme: “Investing to Save Lives: The Role of Public Private Sector Partnerships.”
The conference brought together African first ladies, including Ghana’s First Lady, Mrs Lordina Mahama, who is the President of the Organisation of African First Ladies Against HIV and AIDS (OAFLA), parliamentarians, ministers of health, health professionals, scientists, advocates against cancer, corporate entities and other relevant stakeholders.
Opening
Opening the conference, the President of the Republic of Kenya, Mr Uhuru Kenyatta, called on governments on the continent to make cancer research a priority on their health agenda.
He said although cancer had become a major cause of death on the continent, it had not been on top of the health agenda and this called for greater commitments by governments if Africa was to win the fight against the disease.
President Kenyatta said the disease knew no age, social status and had no geographical boundaries. In view of this Africa has to forge continental alliances to fight cancer which threatens to kill majority of the people living on the continent.
He said the American Cancer Society in 2010 indicated that research had shown that cancer causes the world economy nearly a trillion dollars annually and has been a major cause of poverty on the African continent.
Expensive treatment
According to President Kenyatta, cancer treatment is very expensive and the key for quality care is only through private public partnerships to help those affected by cancer to seek treatment, as 40 per cent of all cancer deaths can be prevented - if detected early.
He said lack of information on the disease has aggravated the problem as most people also have limited access to treatment.
The President commended the first ladies for their hard work and devotion of ridding the continent of diseases, and added that the conference created a unique opportunity for scientists and other stakeholders to devise ways of finding lasting solutions to cancer.
Cervical cancer statistics
For her part, the First Lady of Kenya, Mrs Margaret Kenyatta, the newly elected chairperson of Forum of African First Ladies and
Spouses Against Cervical and Breast Cancer, and host of the conference, expressed her appreciation to her colleague first ladies for the honour.
She said the harsh reality of cancer deaths called for concerted efforts aimed at promoting cancer prevention, early detection, improved diagnosis and treatment, including palliative care and to achieve this, it was important to build and promote partnerships and collaboration in cancer control for better health outcomes.
Working to achieve goal
Mrs Kenyatta pledged to work with all of them to achieve their goals of fighting the disease in Africa and urged the first ladies to build on the successes they had chalked up so far and increase advocacy to impart to the citizenry.
She urged the first ladies to keep fighting cancer and lobby the leaders for help; and assured them of her commitment and support to fight the disease across the continent.
Co-Founder of SCCA, Princess Nikki Onyeri, said the foundation had been in existence since 1995 and had been championing the awareness and education of women with particular focus on breast and cervical cancers.
Welcome cocktail
Earlier, the first ladies were treated to a welcome cocktail hosted by the Cabinet Secretary for Health of Kenya, Mr James Macharia.
In a welcome address, Dr Khadija Kassachoon, Principal Secretary, Ministry of Health, Kenya, said non-communicable diseases like cancers were a major public health concern with the potential of crippling weak health systems and slowing down economic growth on the continent.
For his part, the Governor of Nairobi, Dr Evan Kidero, commended the first ladies for leading the fight against communicable and non-communicable diseases on the continent.
Writer’s email: [email protected]
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