CAPE TOWN, Dec 11, 2006 (AFP) - Africa lacks the resources and skills to combat some kinds of cancers which are spreading due to HIV and AIDS, an expert said Monday.
"There is such a huge amount of HIV in Africa ... that HIV-associated cancers have also increased in prevalence," Ian Magrath of the International Network for Cancer Treatment and Research told AFP on the sidelines of a continental conference in Cape Town.
"There are treatments available for HIV-related cancers, some of which are quite effective, but there is the problem of limitations in the health service, lack of expertise, the cost of drugs ... sometimes the lack of radiation therapy facilities and a lack of infrastructure."
At least 20 African countries have no radiotherapy centres, he said.
HIV infection reduces the body's natural ability to destroy cancerous cells and makes sufferers more prone to infections, Magrath said.
Some cancers, such as Kaposi's sarcoma and the majority of cervical cancers, are caused by viral infection.
Magrath said Kaposi's sarcoma was burgeoning in Africa and was the third most prevalent type of cancer among east African women.
Definitive statistics were hard to come by as few African countries had cancer registries.
An estimated 2.5 million people died of AIDS in Africa every year, with up to a quarter of the populations of some countries thought to be infected with HIV.
The conference of world cancer experts, hosted by the International Atomic Energy Agency, urged African governments to prioritise cancer.
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