Cancer In Africa


  • Photographer
    Georgina Goodwin
  • Prize
    Honorable Mention
  • Company/Studios
    Georgina Goodwin Images
  • Date of Photograph
    2014
  • Technical Info
    Canon5DMkIII 16-35mm 35-105mm

Cancer is the 3rd highest cause of morbidity in Kenya causing 7% of deaths per year. The very real threat of not being able to overcome this disorder due to inequality, unemployment and poverty that affects the social and economic lives of many Kenyans. And yet in the face of all this disorder, the human spirit prevails. This photo essay on Cancer in Africa honours the pain, anxiety, family, treatment, tenderness, survival that can and do triumph over the prevailing chaos of the world today, bringing much needed balance and hope.

Story

Cancer is the third highest cause of morbidity in Kenya causing seven per cent of deaths per year. Population growth, economic development, pollution, rural to urban migration with the adoption of ‘modern’ city lifestyles such as smoking, unhealthy diet, and physical inactivity, all make Cancer an emerging public health problem in Africa. According to the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), about 715,000 new cancer cases and 542,000 cancer deaths occurred in 2008 in Africa. These numbers are projected to nearly double to 1.28 million new cancer cases and 970,000 cancer deaths by 2030.

Despite Kenya having the biggest and most advanced economy in east and central Africa, and an affluent urban minority, it has a Human Development Index (HDI) of 0.519, ranked 145 out of 186 in the world with 17.7% of Kenyans lived on less than $1.25 a day as of 2005, according to Wikipedia. 70-80% of cancer cases in Kenya are diagnosed in late stages due to lack of awareness, inadequate diagnostic facilities, lack of treatment facilities, high cost of treatment, and a high Poverty Index, each playing a vital role in the ability of cancer to be treated, managed, and overcome.

Cancer and Africa epitomize the very essence of disorder, both mirroring each other, both adding to the disorder of the other. And yet in the face of all this disorder, the human spirit prevails. This photo essay on Cancer in Africa honours the pain, anxiety, family, treatment, tenderness, survival that can and do triumph over the prevailing chaos of the world today, bringing much needed balance and hope.

You can create multiple entries, and pay for them at the same time.
Just go to your History, and select multiple entries that you would like to pay for.