In the streets of Lomé, the capital of Togo, Mrs. Ayaba (a pseudonym) goes door-to-door distributing brochures, mainly to women. She sometimes takes the time to explain the content to some of them, while inviting others to a discussion event that will take place soon.
This young woman has been carrying out this activity for two years, especially during the month of October. “It’s my way of raising awareness about breast cancer. I don’t want others to go through what I experienced,” she told BBC Afrique over the phone from Lomé.
Every year, during October, the month dedicated to the fight against breast cancer, this survivor devotes her time to a local association to organize awareness sessions for the community about the disease.
Her experience reflects the devastating impact of this illness in Togo, across Africa, and around the world. Recent figures from the World Health Organization (WHO) highlight the severity of the problem and the urgent need to step up efforts to save lives, particularly those of women.
Safia, a young Ivorian from Abidjan, wasn’t as fortunate. Her older sister died from breast cancer after undergoing a mastectomy of her right breast.
“At the beginning of 2017, she started complaining about a lump and pain in her right breast. Since she had just weaned her child, we thought it was related, and we advised her to wait until the breast milk dried up,” Safia explains.
It wasn’t until the lump started to grow that they went to the hospital. After several tests, the doctors confirmed it was cancer. “It took at least two to three months,” she says.
As the cancer had already advanced, the doctors decided on an amputation, which was carried out. But a few months later, the tumor reappeared, and due to a lack of resources to cover chemotherapy costs, Safia’s sister passed away.
This tragedy continues to affect many women in Africa, helpless in the face of the disease.
In October 2024, many associations are still organizing initiatives to raise awareness about breast cancer, encourage women to undergo early screenings, and promote effective treatment options.
“Low- and middle-income countries, which have the lowest survival rates, will see the sharpest rise in new cases in the coming years,” warned the WHO in a 2022 report.
This alarming forecast is supported by the data on the progression of the disease in Africa.
According to the report, 1,109,209 new cancer cases were recorded in Africa in 2020, with breast cancer accounting for 16.8% of these cases, or 186,568 women affected. It is followed by cervical cancer, which represents 10.6% of new cases (117,316 women).
Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths among women in 19 sub-Saharan African countries. The continent has the highest breast cancer mortality rate in the world, with 85,800 women dying from breast cancer in 2020. Half of the women who die in sub-Saharan Africa are under 50, according to the WHO.
Dr. Valérie McCormack, a scientist at the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), states that “more than a third of the 64,000 annual breast cancer deaths in sub-Saharan Africa could be prevented.”
Source: BBC NEWS
