Adolf Kaure
The health minister Dr Esperance Luvindao at the recent event revealed that over 553 women are diagnosed with breast cancer annually, while 350 women are fighting cervical cancer in Namibia.
She revealed this at the integrated mission of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s
Programme of Action for Cancer Therapy (imPACT) to Namibia recently.
This was in collaboration with the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) and the World Health Organisation (WHO).
More statistics indicate that in 2018, Namibia recorded approximately 2 200 new cancer cases.
Four years later, the Global Cancer Observatory (GLOBOCAN) 2022 data revealed a staggering escalation: 3 453 new cases and 1 940 deaths.
“The data tells a story that we can no longer ignore. In less than a half-decade, we have seen the burden of this disease surge,” said Dr Luvindao.
Projections further indicate that by 2045, Namibia will face over 6 300 new cases, an 84% increase.
“We have the power to change the trajectory of 2045, but only if we strengthen every link in our chain of care, from the initial whisper of health promotion to the final embrace of palliative care,” she added.
There have also been rising rates of prostate cancer, Kaposi sarcoma, and non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
“If we do not act with boldness and precision now, the future looks even more daunting. We do not start this mission from a place of weakness but from a foundation of hard-earned progress. Namibia has shown that it has the will to fight,” the health minister stated.
The government has built centres of excellence through the Dr A.B. May Cancer Care Centre in Windhoek and the Oncology Department at Intermediate Hospital Oshakati.
“We have invested in the high-tech pillars of modern medicine: chemotherapy, radiotherapy and diagnostic imaging.”
Since 1995, through a partnership with the Cancer Association of Namibia, the government has maintained one of the few population-based registries in Africa with the National Cancer Registry.
Luvindao highlighted how the registry’s data is essential to understand trends.
“Our patients tell us about the long distances travelled for care. They tell us about the fear that leads to late diagnosis. We face workforce shortages, infrastructure constraints, and a digital divide that creates disparities between our urban centres and our rural heartlands.”
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