Governments in Africa have been called upon to prioritise cervical and breast cancer, which pose the biggest threats to women, by increasing funding in those areas.

Such funding, they have been advised, should be channelled into prevention, awareness, medical screening for early and timely diagnosis, faster treatment pathways and patient navigation.

The First Lady of Kisumu County in Kenya, Dorothy Nyong'o, who made the call, said if women were indeed the backbone of society, then African governments needed to pay full attention to cervical and breast cancer, which remained the biggest threats to the health of women.

"This is no longer only a moral issue. It's a strategic and economic issue deserving the full attention of governments," she pointed out.

Ms Nyong'o, who is also the Managing Trustee at the Africa Cancer Foundation and a member of the Africa Breast Cancer Council in Kenya, said this in Nairobi, Kenya, at a two-day conference organised by Roche Africa recently.

Dubbed, Africa Press Day, the conference, with a focus on health is wealth and breast cancer in women, was attended by journalists, policy makers, civil society organisations and advocacy groups from Ghana, Algeria, Tunisia, Kenya and Ivory Coast.

She pointed out that when a woman dies from cancer, children lose a beloved caregiver, families lose income and communities lose stability.

"So we are calling on governments to drive an integrated approach to women's cancer care, save our women, strengthen our communities and elevate our economies. We have no time to lose," she said.

Health investment

Touching on the significance of investing in health, Ms Nyong'o said research clearly pointed out that health investments delivered returns and that every dollar invested in innovative cancer treatments could generate up to $12.40 in economic value, while early public health interventions could return more than 14 times the initial investment.  

She said health, when treated strategically, becomes a multiplier, not a drain on resources, adding that it was time for systems to work together.

Citing Kenya as an example, she said the cancer landscape in the country had changed dramatically over the past 10 years and continued to change, mentioning some of these changes to include having state-of-the-art radiation treatments and, through collaborations with various groups including Africa Cancer Foundation, created awareness and screened thousands of Kenyan women for breast cancer.

She added that the establishment of Empower Clinics had also been revolutionary in providing daily access to women to walk in and get breast and cervical cancer screening for free.

The General Manager for East Africa, Roche, Kenya, Jacqueline Wambua, said most African women were diagnosed late for cancers not because the disease was more aggressive but that the system failed them early and that was why her outfit was rewriting the story of breast cancer in Africa with the goal to achieve a 60 per cent increase in breast cancer survival by strengthening every step of the patient journey from early detection to diagnosis, treatment and long-term follow-up care.

She pointed out that Africa's cancer burden was projected to double by 2040, yet many countries on the continent still invest less than five per cent of the health budget in cancer care.

The Principal Secretary of Kenya's State Department for Medical Services, Ministry of Health, Dr Ouma Oluga, stressed the need for Africa to finance its own healthcare systems.