poverty, and can indeed be a cause of
poverty and a major hindrance to
economic development.
Cancer is a class of diseases in which a group
of cells display uncontrolled growth, intrude
upon and destroy adjacent tissues, and
sometimes metastasis, or spread to other
locations in the body via lymph or blood. These
three malignant properties of cancers
differentiate them from benign tumours, which
do not invade or metastasise.
Researchers divide the causes of cancer into
two groups: those with an environmental cause
and those with a hereditary genetic cause.
It must be noted though, that cancer is
primarily an environmental disease, though
genetics influence the risk of some cancers.
Common environmental factors leading to
cancer include: tobacco, diet and obesity,
infections, radiation, lack of physical activity,
and environmental pollutants.
Incidents of cancer are on the rise in Nigeria,
some studies estimating that one in two
Nigerian males will be at risk of contracting
cancer at some point in his life, and this tells us
just how careful we have to be. You see, as we
pointed out earlier, cancer is primarily an
environmental disease with 90-95% of cases
attributed to environmental factors. The
common environmental factors that contribute
to cancer death include: tobacco (25-30%), diet
and obesity (30-35%), infections (15-20%),
radiation (both ionizing and non ionizing, up to
10%), stress, lack of physical activity, and
environmental pollutants.
Despite repeated warnings from the Federal
Ministry of Health, companies that produce
cigarettes are increasing production in the
country, and as a result, more Nigerians are
taking up smoking. The problem here is a lack
of the necessary political will to make life a bit
more uncomfortable for such companies as has
been done in the West.
Another issue is that the average middle class
Nigerian leads a largely sedentary lifestyle.
Take the Lagosian as an example, most of us
wake up at unholy hours of the morning in
order to sit in traffic for countless hours per
day, get to the office, do more sitting, then
again sit in countless hours of traffic on our
return journey home. In between the physical
exertions, we do not even think of exercise.
Then there is environmental pollution, which
dovetails nicely into another scourge that we
have in this part of the world, malaria.
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease
of humans caused by Plasmodium. It is
widespread in tropical and subtropical regions.
The disease results from the multiplication of
the malaria parasites within red blood cells,
causing symptoms that typically include fever
and headache, in severe cases progressing to
coma, and death. Malaria is commonly
associated with poverty, and can indeed be a
cause of poverty and a major hindrance to
economic development.
What would be a shock however is that
incidents of malaria are also on the rise,
especially in our urban areas. Also shocking is
that deaths from malaria are also quite high
compared to the population.
But is it something to be shocked about? Or
better still, is it something to be surprised at?
We all know the drill, malaria is caused by a
tiny insect called the mosquito which feeds on
human blood and in the process transmits the
malaria parasite to the unfortunate victim. We
all know that mosquitoes are endemic in
tropical regions, and Nigeria, especially the
coastal regions of the country, are wham bam
slam in such regions. However, what many of
us do not seem to understand is that we breed
them.
A drive through Lagos is an eye opener to the
fact that despite the efforts of the Lagos State
Waste Management Authority, the environment
here is frankly quite unhealthy. Our
environment is not cleaned properly, and we
have all sorts of pollutants given free rein, a
very good example would be the jalopies that
belch exhaust fumes along our roads.
Nigeria has on paper at least, an excellent
health code. But as is the case with the
cigarette companies, our health code is not
enforced. In September of 2010, the National
Agency for Food Administration and Control
(NAFDAC) had to go on record in warning cocoa
farmers against the use of banned pesticides on
their crops. This followed a study by the Cocoa
Research Institute of Nigeria (CRIN) had listed
24 banned agrochemicals that were still being
used in cocoa farms in Nigeria. According to a
recent publication by CRIN, all chemicals with
endosulfan as their active ingredient are
banned for use on all agriculture undertakings.
Up until today, there has been no follow up to
that warning, and no farmer has been charged
or fined.
Two thousand years ago, the Romans realised
that there was a correlation between the
number of mosquitoes that they had in their
region, and the marshy areas, or areas that had
a lot of still waters. So accordingly, they tried
as much as they could to drain such places,
and generally keep their environment healthy.
Why can we not, in the 21st century, do the
same?
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