Health Ministry to tackle cancer by addressing modifiable risk factors

Jul 22, 2015 News

---

Cancer has been consistently ranked among the top causes of mortality in Guyana for the past decade, a situation that is likely to continue.
This is according to Minister of Public Health, Dr George Norton. Speaking at a recent forum, he pointed out that cancer is listed among the non-communicable diseases that are responsible for 70 percent of morbidity and mortality in this country.
And according to the Minister, like all of the non-communicable diseases, cancer is associated with certain risk factors. Among the major risk factors identified are:  smoking, physical inactivity, dietary patterns, productive behaviours and infectious agents.
“Smoking is a significant risk factor, especially for lung cancer, where an estimated 70 percent of cases are caused by tobacco use and contribute to cardiovascular diseases which are among the leading causes of death in Guyana.”
As he shared the findings of a number of surveys conducted, the Minister informed that smoking has been found to be very prevalent among the male Guyanese population.

For instance, based on the Guyana Demographic Health (GDH) Survey of 2009, approximately one-third of men in the 15-49 age range used tobacco, while only three percent of women did.
However the survey was able to ascertain that smoking in women increased by age group. This was reflected by an increase from one percent in those 15-19 years to seven percent among those 40-44 years.
It was also deduced that 45 per cent of men age 40-44 years were smokers, compared to those men aged 15-19. Among women, smoking was more prevalent (five percent) in urban areas compared to two percent in rural areas. But the complete opposite was found among men, as men in rural areas (32 percent) were more likely to smoke than those in urban areas (23 percent).
The Minister also shared the state of smoking in Guyana by quoting from the Guyana Tobacco Control Report of 2011 which revealed that 27 percent of adult males and six percent of females were current tobacco users. A troubling fact uncovered was that among students age 13-15, 25.3 percent of males and 16 percent of females were current smokers too.
“These data would seem to suggest a decreasing trend in smoking when compared to the GDH Survey,” observed the Minister as he continued by sharing the findings of the Guyana School Health Survey of 2010 which found that close to 90 percent of students aged 13-15 had tried cigarettes before the age of 14.
About 60 percent of students were exposed to second hand smoke with 23 percent of them having a parent or guardian who smoked in their presence. It was also established that almost 13 percent had used controlled substances.
Currently Guyana has in place a draft Tobacco Control Legislation and according to the Minister, “I am keen on seeing it being passed in Parliament. As one of my efforts I hope to get that on the order paper as early as possible, because its passage would go a long way in putting measures in place to make some significant inroads into the harmful use of tobacco.”
Turning his attention to alcohol use, Minister Norton disclosed that according to the survey almost 80 percent of students had their first alcohol beverage before age 14, and 39 percent had consumed an alcohol beverage 30 days prior to their participation in the survey.
The dietary findings of the School Health Survey discovered that 16.5 percent of students were overweight and 4.5 percent were obese. However, there were 21.3 percent of them who were physically active for 60 minutes per day or five or more days per week.
The Minister in considering the dietary situation disclosed that “tackling overweight and obesity are close to my heart…from my younger days I have been involved in serious physical activities, I have been even deemed to have an obsession with it.”
As such, he revealed plans to embark on a crusade of increasing physical activities in all schools and at the same time, seek to encourage the construction of more recreational spaces in communities. He is also gearing to advocate for work places to put in place more physical activities in their environs such as gyms.
Continuing with the findings of the survey, the Minister noted that close to a third of students surveyed had experienced sexual intercourse, and of those who experienced sexual contact, some 71 percent initiated sex before the age of 14.
“As we can see from the data there is a high prevalence of modifiable risk factors that can significantly contribute to cancers and other non-communicable diseases in this country,” said Minister Norton, as he stressed the importance of behavioural changes that can be achieved with dedicated teamwork.
And as part of the efforts to tackle the cancer situation, the Minister added that his Ministry will ensure that Guyana develops a comprehensive cancer prevention and control programme. The programme, according to him, will ensure that common risk factors for cancer such as tobacco use, alcohol use, physical inactivity and unhealthy diets are addressed.
“All of these risk factors are modifiable and therefore they will be a priority for this administration. Additionally we will seek to address our risk factors that contribute to cancers that are caused by chronic infections such as the Human Papillomavirus that causes cervical and other cancers and infections with Hepatitis viruses which cause liver cancer,” the Minister asserted.
However, he noted that Guyana cannot do it alone, but rather, requires the assistance of its developmental partners such as the Pan American Health Organisation, the United Nations Children Fund, the United Nations Population Fund, local Non-Governmental Organisations, and citizens among others. Added to this, he stressed the need for the support of the media. “We need the media to help us get our message out there as we seek to inform and change behaviour…Not only that, but we need the media to keep us honest about the efforts we are making and the progress in our prevention, treatment and control programmes.”
As such, he said that the Ministry under the new government will be seeking to ensure that information is made available to the media.
“The previous culture of not sharing information has to stop; that has to be a thing of the past.”

---

---