1, November 2016
Cancer could kill 60 percent more women by 2030 0
Nearly 60 percent more women may fall victim to various types of cancer by 2030, a report says, indicating a rocketing increase in a matter of less than two decades. The Global Burden of Cancer in Women presented on Tuesday at the World Cancer Congress in Paris showed that a shocking figure of 5.5 million women would be killed from cancer each year by 2030, much higher than 3.5 million deaths from 6.7 million cancer cases recorded in 2012.
“These numbers are expected to increase to 9.9 million cases and 5.5 million deaths among females annually by 2030 as a result of the growth and ageing of the population,” said the report, warning that the highest toll will be among women in poor and middle-income countries who could suffer from largely preventable cancers.
The report, compiled by the American Cancer Society and pharmaceutical company Merck, highlighted the large geographic inequality in availability of resources and preventive measures and treatment to combat cancer, saying a much smaller proportion of cancer cases are diagnosed and treated in poorer countries.
It said most cancer cases are still reported in high-income countries in Europe, the Americas and Asia as they have better access to screening and detection. However, a much bigger group dies in poorer countries such as Zimbabwe, Malawi, Kenya, Mongolia and Papua New Guinea.
It also said better basic healthcare being provided in developing countries, which has led to a longer lifespan for people, has exposed them to a growing burden of cancer. It said women in these societies are involved in more physical inactivity, unhealthy diet, obesity, and reproductive factors such as postponing motherhood, meaning that rapid economic transition is increasing the risk of cancer for these countries.
The report said cervical cancer is still the most prevalent in poor countries while the developed ones have more rates of colorectal cancer. It said breast and lung cancers are common in both rich and poor nations. However, it added that all the four types are mostly preventable or can be detected early, when treatment is more successful. Cancer is the second highest cause of death after cardiovascular disease. Estimates show that it is already killing one in seven women around the world.
Presstv
11, November 2016
The declining state of public hygiene under the CPDM regime 0
The Minister for Youths and Civic Education was in Kribi recently to launch a national initiative which seeks to generalize good civic practices in the country. Many see it as a last-ditch effort to improve on the declining state of public hygiene, especially as the Africa Nations Cup competition draws nearer and nearer. Many have criticized the state of public hygiene in the country and the authorities were beginning to fear that we were going to be caught pants down when the numerous visitors coming into the country for the AFCON if they met the situation uncorrected. Some have rightly called it a national disease. On the major streets of Yaoundé, it is not unusual to find passengers throwing out banana peelings or used Kleenex paper from car windows and quite often this is even done by those in vehicles no one would ever have suspected simply by the quality of their occupants!
Once upon a time, the cities of Yaoundé and Douala had some of the best public telephone booths; but all were gone within months of their installation because hoodlums broke them up and shattered them in the hope of extracting the coins put in to obtain communication lines. Across the country, entire communities have been cut off from electricity by thieves in search of such lines to sell out for use in the manufacture of other lucrative uses. Many Mayors and other authorities have been making appeals for better manners as the countdown for the beginning of AFCON comes closer. The appeals were prompted by the need to address some disturbing actions around newly constructed structures in the country where citizens have not given them the care they require. Within these structures and where toilets and other facilities exist, people would rather urinate just about anywhere.
One must however blame the public authorities for the rise in these condemnable acts because all too often essential services such as toilets and other hospitality services are not provided for when public buildings are conceived. It is possible to go for several kilometers in our major cities with seeing a refuse disposal basket or a public toilet. In such a situation, where does one expect even the most willing person faced with the need to urinate do? Or where does one throw a used piece of Kleenex? It takes both a campaign such as the one being organized by the public authorities but, above all, by the provision of facilities to expect a radical turnaround in the poor habits experienced today. It will take only that to expect to instill a culture of public hygiene and the need to respect common-use facilities in the minds of Cameroonian citizens.
Culled from Cameroon Tribune