Campaign launched to increase cancer awareness

2007-02-06

A new cancer prevention campaign aims to reduce the preventable cases of the disease in the country. Cancer care is very expensive in Morocco, and many families cannot afford or reach treatment centres.

By Sarah Touahri for Magharebia in Rabat – 06/02/07

[Sarah Touahri] Each year, another thousand cases of childhood cancer are recorded.

Like many countries across the world, Morocco launched a cancer prevention campaign on Sunday (February 4th). The annual plan -- under the auspices of the Lalla Salma Cancer Prevention Association -- includes activities targeting children and young people, to raise awareness and to educate them about prevention techniques.

Fouzia Msefer Alaoui, a member of the administrative council of the association, explains that the objective of this campaign is to reduce the 40,000 new cases of cancer each year. About 1,000 of the total cases are among children.

Alaoui said that in Morocco, cancer care is very expensive, the social and psychological conditions are too harsh, and therapeutic results are limited, despite the progress that has been made. Hence the need to turn to prevention, given that 43% of cancers can be avoided.

Campaign spots started airing on television and the radio, and posters have been distributed to health centres and educational establishments throughout the kingdom. A march by secondary schoolchildren from the Rabat region waving banners they have made is planned for February 24th. A programme to combat smoking and promote healthy lifestyles will be launched later in the month in secondary schools.

In March and April, information and awareness-raising sessions will be organised at health centres. Sporting and cultural events will also be held. In the summer, a campaign about the harmful effects of excessive sun bathing will be launched. In September, a new module looking at cancer prevention will be introduced into science lessons, in collaboration with the education ministry.

Cancer treatment costs between 20,000 and 150,000 dirhams, with only 15% of those affected receiving care, according to Saïd Benchekroun, the head of the haematology and oncology department at Casablanca’s 20 August Hospital. Due to their size, oncology centres exist only in Rabat and Casablanca.

Civil society is trying to make up for this problem. The Future House in Rabat is opening its doors to families of children with cancer, for a cost of 10 dirhams per day. It is able to take in around 20 families. Aïcha Naciri, who manages the centre, says that this capacity is often exceeded. The centre is currently taking in about 40 families. "We even give some parents the money to pay for travel to hospital. Our continuing work is reliant on donations."

According to Abdellatif Benider, head of the oncology service in the Ibn Rochd University Hospital, the most common is breast cancer, followed by cervical cancer. Lung cancer is in third place, but is threatening to gain ground on the others. Other cancers are tending to increase, particularly colorectal cancers, which are linked to diet.