Cancer specialist Dr. Albino Amum speaks on Eye Radio's Dawn Show. Oct. 4, 2024. (Photo: Awan Moses).

While cancer remains a little-known disease in South Sudan with no comprehensive data on its burden in the country, an expert says the deadly disease remains a serious public health concern and encourages South Sudanese to follow prevention measures.

Dr. Albino Amum, an Associate Professor of Surgical Oncology at the Upper Nile University urges people who excessively drink and smoke to either quit or minimize the drug use to reduce the risk of getting cancer.

Dr. Awin said drinking alcohol can develop liver cirrhosis, which by time can lead to liver cancer.

The cancer specialist said although alcohol, shisha and tobacco are addictive, people can avoid their intake to protect their health.

“Those who are drinking alcohol, alcohol is a cause of multiple cancer in the body, those who are drinking alcohol can develop what is called liver cirrhosis, liver cirrhosis after some time can develop into liver cancer,” Awin said on Eye Radio’s Dawn Show.

“Alcohol is not food. You can quit drinking. Those who cannot quit, should minimize drinking, this is my advice to you. Those who are taking alcohol, they have risk of getting cancer, those who are smoking tobacco and ‘shisha’, they are also at risk of getting cancer.”

The World Health Organization says alcohol consumption is known to increase the risk of cancer development in the mouth, throat liver, voice box, large intestine and rectum, and female breast.

It highlights that 2.6 million deaths per year were attributable to alcohol consumption, accounting for 4.7% of all deaths.

Meanwhile, WHO added tobacco kills up to half of its users who don’t quit, and kills more than 8 million people each year globally, including an estimated 1.3 million non-smokers who are exposed to second-hand smoke.