Adult lung cancer in southern Africa: epidemiology and aetiology. African Journal of Respiratory Medicine Vol 8 No 2 March 2013.
J Sheridan and A M Collins
This article aims to review current literature on the burden and causes of lung cancer in southern Africa and highlight areas that may require intervention or further research.
Conclusion
In southern Africa, while the incidence and mortality rates are currently relatively low, the increasing use of
tobacco has yet to show its full effect. When equivalent smoking rates occurred in the UK, the incidence of cancer was 80–100 per 100000, worryingly less than that of southern Africa at present. Five-year survival rates for lung cancer are low; 14% in one part of southern Africa compared with 17.1% in the UK. To prevent rates of lung cancer in southern Africa increasing to those currently seen in developed countries, research and preventative measures in many areas need to be urgently addressed with high quality studies to explore the relationship between HIV and the risk of lung cancer needed along with public health initiatives to:
- Reduce outdoor air pollution by promotion of public transport and regulation of the industrial pollutant emission;
- Reduceindoor air pollution by promotion of the use of cleaner household fuels and improved cooking stoves and household ventilation;
- Reduce tobacco use by higher taxes on cigarettes, increased education on the consequences of smoking, banning aggressive tobacco company marketing techniques, no smoking permitted in public areas, and increased smoking cessation advice and services;
- Reduceoccupationalexposure by improved occupational health and increased government regulation on the exposure to carcinogens in the workplace.
