urbanisation and cancer in africa

Both in developed and low-income developing countries of the world more than half of humanity resides now in cities, and city dwellers make up more of the world population each year. Humanity is abandoning the countryside and soon more than 25 cities will have populations of 10 million or more. Rural areas depopulate because modern farming techniques require less labor and more technology. In developing countries more and more migrants each year are leaving marginal lands because little rain and poor soils keep agricultural productivity low. In fact, farming income cannot compete with economic opportunities in cities. A growing, affluent urban class thus drives demand in energy and consumer goods and is straining city infrastructure. 

Since 1955 Africa has witnessed the most rapid urbanisation of all the continents, giving rise to cities that rival some of the greatest in the world in terms of size and population although sadly not infrastructure. By the year 2025, 54.0 percent of the African population will reside in urban areas. Some of these cities are Kano, Cape Town, Johannesburg, Abidjan (all with a population of more than 3 million), Khartoum (Pop 4.5 million), Kinshasa (Pop 6.0 million), and Lagos (Pop 10.9 million). The growth of Africa’s population is high while the rates of economic growth are low. As a consequence the growth of available health facilities in these huge metropolitan areas cannot parallel the rate of people urbanisation. In these huge cities “new” diseases such as cancer will reach unexpected rates in the near future due to population growth and ageing, combined with reduced mortality from infectious disease, and lack of primary and secondary preventive actions. Urbanisation in Africa is thus likely to play a major role in favoring the cancer epidemic the continent will be faced to in few years.