A bold new effort is under way to boost the fight against cancer, which has long been overshadowed in South Africa by the war on HIV/Aids. The Times reports that the disease, which affects roughly one in eight South Africans, is climbing the ranks as one of the country's top 10 health burdens. Now the Medical Research Council has committed R37m to three universities to establish research units geared towards specific types of cancer.
Professor Lynette Denny will lead the council's collaboration with the University of Cape Town with the main focus being gynaecological cancers, including those of the cervix, uterus and ovaries. Professor Paul Ruff, head of the medical oncology unit at the University of the Witwatersrand, said the focus there would be on cancers of the breast, colon and pancreas. The University of KwaZulu-Natal will focus research on cancers of the oesophagus, gall bladder and liver.
The Department of Health last year began vaccinating Grade 4 girls in government schools against the human papillomavirus, which can cause cervical cancer. Preventative steps such as this, experts say, are the result of research being focused on specific cancers – interventions can be directed to where they are needed most.
Professor Vikash Sewram, chair of a ministerial advisory committee on cancer, said the intention was to ensure accurate cancer surveillance, better and quicker diagnosis, and access to treatment. Surveillance would help to pinpoint the prevalence of specific cancers by age, sex, race and geographical area.
[link url="http://www.timeslive.co.za/local/2015/02/22/fight-against-cancer-in-sa-gets-r37m-boost1"]Full report in The Times[/link]