SIBONGILE RAMOTSHELA | Cancer can be successfully treated if detected early

Many South Africans may know that October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month but not enough of us are aware of this fact. The recent death of Zoleka Mandela at the age of 43 reminded us how rife cancer is.

Zoleka fought a brave and public war against the illness. Unfortunately, after her death, a lot of media attention was spent on the family disputes rather than on help raise awareness about cancer, particularly breast cancer, which later spread across her body affecting many other parts.

What is saddening is that she died of a cancer that can be treated successfully if caught early enough. According to the SA National Cancer Registry 2019 data, the overall incidence and mortality rate show that black people are the least likely to know they might have cancer and the most likely to die from it.

According to the data, black people make 67% of those who died from cancer. Only 34,310 blacks were recorded to have cancer and 23,262 died from it. Compare this to white South Africans, where 38,952 presented themselves to be screened or tested for cancer and only 3,038 succumbed to it.

Among the coloured population, 9,693 were recorded to have cancer and 921 (9.5%) died from the illness. The incidence among people of Asian origin was the lowest with 2,418 known to have cancer and a mere 51 (or 2.1%) of them dying.

What is most frustrating for the cancer awareness fraternity is that it is the most treatable cancers that account for the most deaths. For example, many SA men are likely to die of prostate cancer when they could have lived with it for many years, like Zoleka’s grandfather Nelson Mandela did.

Madiba was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2001 aged 83 and lived with the disease until his death in 2013 from other complications unrelated to the cancer. Black women are more likely to die of cervical cancer than women of any other race. In fact, cervical cancer is the leading cause of death in women in sub-Saharan Africa, yet this can be successfully treated if detected early.

With the potentially life-saving human papillomavirus vaccine, a greater challenge is convincing parents to allow their daughters to take up the state’s programme of vaccinating girls around 10 years of age.

The stats show that of all the SA population groups, the lowest number of people who present themselves for tests or screening for cancer are black. It is also this group that is most likely to default on treatment.

It will be naïve to pretend that there are no socioeconomic factors that impact on these numbers and attitudes. The burden on the public health system is well recorded. While genetic factors play a role in one’s chances of getting cancer, the perception that cancer is just “bad luck” must be countered.

There are environmental and lifestyle choices that can aid the possibility of getting cancer or delaying its spread and impact. Spreading cancer awareness is to counteract the view by some that they would rather not know what killed them than to screen and possibly detect they have cancer.

We must spread the word that acancer diagnosis does not in itself spell death and hopelessness. It cannot be that in the age of information, people continue to die of ignorance.

■ Ramotshela is managing director at Afia Tai – a non-profit company in Johannesburg.