During the World Cancer Day (4th of February 2014) the message which spread across the world media was the cancer burden can no longer be ignored. As figures reached the mark of 14 million new cases per year in 2012 and is expected to increase even more, it is more than clear that a drastic action needs to be taken.
This year’s campaign not only aimed to raise awareness of the daunting figures or to urge people to have a healthy lifestyle, but also served to dispel myths such as the absence of symptoms of the disease and that cancer is only present in the developed world.
According to the WHO, 60% of world’s total new annual cases occur in Africa, Asia and Central and South America. In the past decades, so much attention has been given to TB, malaria and mainly HIV cases in the African continent but little has been done to tackle the world’s biggest killer.
Despite 30% of cancers being preventable the picture is rather complex in a continent where most of the population have a poor diet, in many countries the health system is inadequate if existent and many die without ever seeing a doctor or having ever heard of cancer. Actually, in many African languages, the world cancer does not exist up to this date. Some even think they are sick because they have been cursed. To make matters worse, the considerable decrease in cigarettes consumers and ever tougher regulations in the developed world made tobacco companies turn their eyes to Africa and Asia in the search of a new and not regulated market. Smoking is the single biggest cause of cancer in the world. It is responsible for 71% of lung cancer deaths and 22% of all cancer deaths. Slowly, Africa became exposed to a threat inexistent 20 years ago.
The chance of a great source of revenue and the creation of thousands of jobs which the tobacco industry could generate was initially a great deal for many African governments. Soon companies were able to influence at high levels. Today the tobacco industry in many countries has become essential for the local economy. Zambia, for instance, is rapidly becoming one of the world’s leading producers of tobacco leaf.
The absence of educational programs and concessions given by a few African governments allowed the multinationals to put in place sales strategies that in Europe and in the US have been unheard of for decades. In Nigeria, companies have been accused of handing out cigarettes to youth in rural areas and sports events.
It didn’t take too long for Africans to feel the effect of smoking in the population. Besides TB and the AIDS wave, the extreme fragile health systems had also to deal with the burden of cancer. In Cameroon, there are only 4 oncologists in the whole country to serve a population estimated at 21 million. Half of African nations don’t even have radiotherapy services.
A few countries decided to take action against tobacco companies. At the end of 2007, the Nigerian federal government prosecuted the tobacco companies British-American Tobacco, Philip Morris International, and International Tobacco Ltd., seeking US$42.4 billion in reparations for damage they have caused to Nigerians’ health. Following that, in 2009 a bill was proposed in order to tighten the control of tobacco and prevent its consumption. Nearly 5 years later, the bill is yet to be passed since many tobacco companies’ lobbyist claim the law would damage the economy.
There also has been an increase in taxation of tobacco products in a few other countries such as Kenya and in South African. The taxation might have caused a decline in the tobacco consumption but has opened the door to an illicit market. The illegal cigarettes trade is bigger than the drugs trade in South Africa. A 2009 WHO report said that taxes on cigarettes were on 55% in Kenya, but the illicit trade was responsible for 12% of the entire country’s market.
Tackling smoking alone will not be enough to beat cancer in Africa. One of the main causes of deaths among African women is cervical cancer as vaccines are just too expensive. It is however essential in order not to condemn generations and generations to a slow and painful death. While tobacco multinational companies have what has been called as “licence to kill” the poor and young, will be fighting a losing battle.
Mr Bekele added: “Multinational tobacco companies have greater revenue than some small countries’ GDP. Still international advocacy can help to challenge them. For instance, imagine what the Bloomberg Initiative is doing, and CVS Pharmacy which voluntarily disregarded multi-billion sales of tobacco from its supermarket stores. This what we call social responsibility.”
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