Towards a cancer free society - taming a deadly disease

As the world marked World Cancer Day on Monday, it provided an opportunity to reflect on the challenges posed by cancer in our society in recent times, and opportunities for reducing this threat in the future. Cancer cases have continued to be increasingly reported in our region, and indeed in the rest of Africa. Malignancies are now among the leading causes of death in East Africa.

The most common cancers in the East African region are cancers of the breast and cervix uteri in women and cancers of the prostate, esophagus and kaposi sarcoma in men. In addition, there are continued reports of patients getting these cancers at exceptionally young ages.