A survey of childhood cancer was undertaken in Namibia from 1983 to 19
88 to record all tumors in children less than 15 years of age. The nat
ional incidence of childhood cancer in the republic of Namibia was 55.
5 per million. children. The overall incidence rate was 73.3 per milli
on in urban and densely populated areas, and 44.4 per million in the r
ural areas. This difference was not statistically significant. The rel
atively high 75 per million overall incidence of tumors amongst the wh
ite population group was probably due to the generally higher socioeco
nomic status and concomitant good medical care of this ethnic group du
ring the study period. The significantly higher overall incidence of t
umors (109 per million) recorded in the Rehoboth ethnic group, however
, could not be accounted for by socioeconomic status or better health
care facilities and remains unexplained. The cause of the increased in
cidence of central nervous system tumors in the Herero (26 per million
) and osteosarcomas in the Kavango (11 per million) ethnic groups is a
lso not clear and warrants further research. The apparent geographical
cluster of tumors in. northern and central Namibia was caused by the
irregular distribution of the population.