George Bush Deserves Praise for Continuing to Fight for Africa

Former U.S. president George W. Bush spent the last week in Kabwe, Zambia where he manually worked with the poorest of the poor to renovate the Ngungu Health Centre that has been transformed into a cancer testing and treatment center. The visit is aimed at promoting a health initiative that focuses on cervical cancer prevention and treatment.

Bush, who was accompanied by his wife Laura, has visited Zambia twice in the last six months. During the previous visit last December, Bush promised to bring the cervical cancer fight to the mineral resource rich southern African country. He should be commended for honoring his promise, an example that other world leaders can emulate.

In Bush’s own words, world leaders should be moved to act whenever they saw people suffering.

He said he was thankful to be involved in a project that would stand the test of time. He said he was thrilled to be back to Zambia and to know that the newly-refurbished clinic had given people a chance to live.

"We are putting up a cervical cancer crusade to save lives because every human life is precious," said Bush.

He said the commitment to the fight against cervical and breast cancer was real and hailed the people that volunteered to make the work possible.

Cancer in Africa is an emerging concern and the problem is further worsened by the continent’s acute shortage of experts such as oncologists and lacks infrastructure and data to combat the disease.

Zambia is ranked among the top 20 countries with the highest incidence of cervical cancer by the World Cancer Research Fund International, with an estimated 52.8 percent of the sexually active women believed to be infected.