South Sudan launches first national cancer registry to track disease cases

South Sudan launched its first national cancer registry on Thursday to improve how the country monitors and records cancer cases.

Dr Aker Bol, a medical doctor in the Oncology Department at Juba Teaching Hospital, stated that the registry helps health authorities determine how many people suffer from cancer. The database allows officials to identify common types of the disease to improve prevention, early diagnosis, and treatment.

Dr Aker explained that authorities previously neglected the disease because they lacked a systematic way to record cases. Without a national registry, doctors could not determine the scale of the disease or identify which population groups were most affected. The World Health Organization, UNICEF, Concern for Women, and the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention supported the launch by providing the necessary equipment for recording and registering cases. Dr Aker said these partnerships made the initiative possible.

The new registry aims to provide the information needed to guide public health interventions and understand how cancer affects the wider population. The government and health workers have already conducted awareness and screening activities, including campaigns during Pink October, a month dedicated to cancer awareness. While some patients received diagnoses and started treatment during these campaigns, the lack of a centralized record previously made it difficult to track those cases.

Dr Aker urged the public to support efforts to strengthen cancer awareness and reporting across the country.