review · International Journal for Equity in Health
Cancer claims nearly 2,000 lives daily across Africa, with mortality projected to rise in the absence of strategic intervention. A critical obstacle is the lack of policy prioritisation and equity, which compromises the core tiers of cancer care: prevention, diagnosis, and ongoing management. Inequities are driven by factors such as underfunded research, low awareness, a lack of operational cancer registries, high service costs, and shortages of specialised staff and diagnostic infrastructure. Late patient presentation and weak vaccination responses further compound these challenges. To close these gaps, recommended national and capacity-building interventions include providing routine awareness during hospital visits, enhancing funding for medical staff and facilities, expanding specialty oncology training, introducing health insurance coverage for cancer, and deploying mobile health technology for telemedicine diagnosis.
Rising cancer mortality in Africa presents a severe public health crisis that is worsened by widespread neglect in health policy and resource allocation. Outlining the structural, financial, and diagnostic barriers allows healthcare leaders and policymakers to target interventions effectively. Addressing these issues systematically can expand access to early detection, lower risk factors, and significantly improve survival outcomes across the continent.
The findings highlight an opportunity for digital health developers and health systems through the deployment of mobile health technology for telemedicine diagnosis. Targeted at primary healthcare facilities and remote clinics, this tool could connect patients with scarce oncology specialists. As the abstract provides recommendations derived from a literature overview, this technological pathway remains at a conceptual planning stage requiring infrastructure development, field testing, and operational integration.
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INTRODUCTION: Cancer is a significant public health challenge globally, with nearly 2000 lives lost daily in Africa alone. Without adequate measures, mortality rates are likely to increase. The major challenge for cancer care in Africa is equity and prioritization, as cancer is not receiving adequate attention from policy-makers and strategic stakeholders in the healthcare space. This neglect is affecting the three primary tiers of cancer care: prevention, diagnosis, and treatment/management. To promote cancer care equity, addressing issues of equity and prioritization is crucial to ensure that everyone has an equal chance at cancer prevention, early detection, and appropriate care and follow-up treatment. METHODOLOGY: Using available literature, we provide an overview of the current state of cancer care in Africa and recommendations to close the gap. RESULTS: We highlight several factors that contribute to cancer care inequity in Africa, including inadequate funding for cancer research, poor cancer education or awareness, inadequate screening or diagnostic facilities, lack of a well-organized and effective cancer registry system and access to care, shortage of specialized medical staff, high costs for screening, vaccination, and treatment, lack of technical capacity, poor vaccination response, and/or late presentation of patients for cancer screening. We also provide recommendations to address some of these obstacles to achieving cancer care equity. Our recommendations are divided into national-level initiatives and capacity-based initiatives, including cancer health promotion and awareness by healthcare professionals during every hospital visit, encouraging screening and vaccine uptake, ensuring operational regional and national cancer registries, improving healthcare budgeting for staff, equipment, and facilities, building expertise through specialty training, funding for cancer research, providing insurance coverage for cancer care, and implementing mobile health technology for telemedicine diagnosis. CONCLUSION: Addressing challenges to cancer equity holistically would improve the likelihood of longer survival for cancer patients, lower the risk factors for groups that are already at risk, and ensure equitable access to cancer care on the continent. This study identifies the existing stance that African nations have on equity in cancer care, outlines the current constraints, and provides suggestions that could make the biggest difference in attaining equity in cancer care.
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DOI: 10.1186/s12939-023-01962-y
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