The World Health Organisation Regional Director for Africa, Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, on Sunday said the cancer situation in Africa is disheartening.
Dr Moeti, in a statement to commemorate the 2024 World Cancer Day, stated that “approximately 882,882 new cancer cases occurred in the WHO African Region with around 573,653 deaths”.
According to her, about 50 per cent of new cancer cases in adults in the region are due to breast, cervical, prostate, colorectal, and liver cancers.
She warned that if urgent measures are not taken, cancer mortality in the region is projected to reach about one million deaths per year by 2030.
She further added that in 20 years, cancer death rates in Africa will overtake the global average of 30 per cent. This is more so because cancer survival rates in the WHO African region currently average 12 per cent, much lower than the average of over 80 per cent in High-Income Countries.