Inaccurate reporting of new cases of cancer in South Africa was making it difficult to fight the disease, the Department of Health said on Monday.
"Cancer will become an increasingly significant contributor to the burden of disease without intervention," said senior health department official Dr Lindiwe Makubalo, speaking on behalf of Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang.
Among previously disadvantaged South Africans, new cases of cancer were often diagnosed too late, making successful treatment less likely, Makubalo told a meeting of health professionals in Johannesburg.
South Africa had the largest number of cancer registries in Africa which provided valuable information for planning and resource allocation, she said. The fact that they were not empowered to demand information meant that pathologists were not
obliged to report cancer patients. This resulted in inaccurate statistics, limiting the usefulness of reports produced by the National Cancer Registry (NCR).
Without intervention the number of cases of cancer diagnosed yearly worldwide would increase to 15-million by 2020 from 10-million currently, said Makubalo, quoting World Health Organisation figures.
According to 1999 NCR statistics, more than 30 000 women were diagnosed with cancer in that year in South Africa, the three leading cancers being breast, cervical and colorectal. Of the 29 000 men diagnosed with the disease, the leading cancers were prostate, lung and oesophageal.
Makubalo said most types of cancer were treatable, and preventable with a combination of avoiding smoking, eating healthily and a clean environment.
The head of the NCR said cancer should be made a reportable, as opposed to a notifiable, disease to allow registries access to good quality data.
A further problem facing registries was the question of patient consent, which had led some private laboratories to stop reporting cancer data, pending authorisation by the Department of Health, said Dr Nokuzola Mqoqi.
"We need commitment from the Department of Health that authorises laboratories to report to the NCR."
Underestimating cancer was particularly prevalent in provinces lacking the facilities to diagnose the disease.
"Cancers that are diagnosed by death certificates, autopsies and clinical procedures only, without laboratory confirmation, are being missed," Mqoqi said.
One in four South African men would develop cancer within their lifetime, according to 1998-1999 registry data. This was up from one in six for the 1996-1997 period said Professor Paul Ruff, head of oncology at the University of the Witwatersrand. – Sapa