This archive report was first published on 6 July 2019.
On July 6, 2019, at the African Union Summit in Niamey, Burkina Faso, first ladies from across the continent came together to address a pressing health issue: cancer.
Speaking on behalf of the group, Sika Bella Kabore, the first lady of Burkina Faso, read out a joint appeal for more effective measures to combat cancer.
The appeal called for cancer to be included in strategic planning and for higher taxes on tobacco, alcohol, and other carcinogenic products.
According to cancer specialist Alain Toledano of the Rafael Institute in Paris, both drink and cigarettes are cheaper in most African countries than in western countries, where a tax on such products is often incorporated into health policies.
"Africa is rightly concerned most of all with contagious diseases," said Toledano, who is also president of the Franco-African Cancerology Association.
However, he emphasized that cancer is a major issue that has been overlooked, with 19 million people dying from cancer each year, 70 percent of them in the poorest countries.
Toledano argued that investing in cancer prevention and early detection is crucial to achieving the goal of raising life expectancy from 60 to 75 by 2063.
