He said this at the 8th Stop Cervical, Breast and Prostate Cancer in Africa in Windhoek, Namibia.Olajide, who spoke on gender perspectives and cancer in Africa, added that they also had limited financial access to female condom hence they become more vulnerable to infections.
He said native common sense and African intelligence
assumes one need to have a breast before contracting cancer, prostate before
having prostate cancer and cervix before contracting cervical cancer.“How many
men know that they have prostate cancer; if you look at how we have socialised
our society and organise our health system and programmes.
“We see the vulnerability of men and women with various
cancers as a consequence of their socialisation,’’ he said.Olajide said that in
Africa, there were still several societal practices that promote multiple
partners, wife inheritance, gender based violence and lots of things that make
women vulnerable to HIV infection.
He also said that human Pabiloma virus which makes them
vulnerable to cancer of the cervix.“Their vulnerability is not only as a result
of health issues but also the social structure that we have put in place,’’ he
said.He explained that most behavioural change messages that were put up in the
media were gender specific approaches.
“When we see posters of self-breast examination, they are
almost always focusing on women. Hardly do you see such posters focusing on
men,’’ Olajide noted.Also, Dr Jean Dangou, WHO Regional Advisor for cancer
prevention and control, projected that there would be 26.4 million cases of
cancer worldwide by 2030. He said that
there would be 16.4 million deaths and 75 million people living with cancer.“
The incidence is almost 25 per cent higher in men than in
women, the rate of 205 and 165 per 100,000 people respectively,’’ he said.
He explained that the devolution worldwide showed that in
developing countries going through rapid and societal economic changes, there
is a rising burden of cancers associated with reproductive and risk factors.
Teach them the capacity to negotiate without calling them ogbologbo
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