INCREASE IN THE INCIDENCE OF CANCER CASES IN GHANA AND OTHER AFRICAN COUNTRIES
There has been a sharp increase in cancer cases in Ghana and other African countries. Unless the necessary steps are taken to drastically reduce the incidence, it would lead to an epidemic in the next few years. Cancer used to be disease of the western world in most cases, and rarely found in Africa, but in the last two to three decades, cancer is spreading like wild fire.
The main reason for the dramatic increase in the cancer cases comes from abandoning the more traditional organic farming systems from generations ago, and unfortunately replacing them by spreading chemicals on everything and everywhere. Environmental contamination of the food chain is becoming one of the main causes of cancer in Africa today. The indiscriminate use of agrochemicals by mostly uneducated farmers, which include liquid fertilizers, weedicides, herbicides, and pesticides, by spraying vegetables and other food sources that ultimately results in contamination. The goal of these farmers is to have “bounty harvest” without regard of contaminating the food pyramid that affects humans and animals alike. Some countries including China have exported tons of these chemicals into these countries without proper education for these farmers. More often than not, some of the farmers overuse the chemicals on the crops. There have been reported cases where farmers after spraying fall victim to the chemicals they have just sprayed and died shortly thereafter.
The goal of these farmers is to have “bounty harvest” without regard of contaminating the food pyramid that affects humans and animals alike. Some countries including China, have exported tons of these chemicals into these countries without proper education for these farmers. More often than not, some of the farmers overuse the chemicals on the crops. There have been reported cases where farmers, after spraying, fall victim to the chemicals they have just sprayed and died shortly thereafter.
In addition, there has been illegal mining of gold and other precious metals in Ghana and other African countries by citizens of some of these countries enticed by the foreign countries at their backyard. That means the chemicals used to extract and process these minerals result not only contaminating the environment but ultimately end up in the water supply systems. If the chemicals enter the rivers, streams, lakes or the ocean, results in contaminating and killing the fish and other life stocks.
Some of the weedicides are named “condemn”, no wonder it is “condemning many people and some animals to death” by killing life stocks and humans alike. When the herbs or weeds are sprayed, cattle, goats, sheep and other life stock which are not in gated fences, therefore these animals roam about freely to eat the grass or vegetation, thereby ingesting the “killer chemicals” which in turn reaches breakfast, lunch and dinner tables on daily basis. Sadly, no one is held accountable, neither are the farmers nor the countries exporting these deadly chemicals as the dumping grounds without respect of human lives. The people innocently buy and eat not knowing the source, thereby getting cancer years later.
Some of the most common cancers developing are head, neck and throat, breast (mostly in females) and gastrointestinal cancers.
Unlike the western countries, most of the African countries, including Ghana lack the resources and the diagnostic machines to detect these cancers early. Mammogram, MRI, CAT scans are very rare in the hospitals of most of these countries. There is a severe shortage of cancer specialists doctors (Oncologist). In some countries, there are just a handful of oncologists for the entire country. The end result is that most of these cancers go undiagnosed and the affected patients die prematurely.