Number of cancer cases rising in Sudan’s El Gezira

Oncologists at the Oncology Hospital in the capital of El Gezira have reported an ongoing increase in cancer cases.

They told Radio Dabanga from Wad Madani that “these days the hospital is admitting 10 to 15 cases a day”.

In early September, a survey carried out by the Sudanese Ministry of Health in collaboration with the World Health Organisation (WHO) revealed a growing number of cancer cases in the country.

The survey was conducted by taking samples from health centres and hospitals in Sudan between 2009 and 2013. Nearly 12,000 cases of cancer were recorded.

The Northern State has recorded the highest percentage in the country, followed by Khartoum and the River Nile states.

El Gezira state in central Sudan reported a rise in cancer cases last year well, most probably resulting from the use of certain pesticides and the way the chemicals are stored and transported.

The non-governmental Food and Nutrition Organisation told Radio Dabanga in 2014 that the use of outdated pesticides in El Gezira's agricultural schemes contaminated the crops. This caused nearly 93,000 people to develop allergies, kidney diseases and failure, as well as various forms of cancer, in the period between 2008 and 2010.