Cancer in Africa: a preventable public health crisis

Cancer in sub-Saharan Africa is a latent public health crisis. Its burden is expected to increase, as people in this region live longer with reduced risk of death from infectious diseases and increasingly adopt lifestyles that include tobacco use, unhealthy diet, the harmful use of alcohol and reduced physical activity. Promotion of healthy lifestyles including anti-tobacco and alcohol legislation, immunization, early diagnosis by screening target populations and surveillance and monitoring are available to stem this tide. Alarm must be raised now, before it is too late. Africa can avoid a significant proportion of the cancer scourge that lies ahead. This requires the development and implementation of proactive national cancer prevention and control programmes, which are guided by sound scientific evidence. Governments and partners need to grasp the importance of the growing cancer burden in the region and reflect this awareness in their budget and funding policies as recommended in the African Regional Strategy for Cancer Prevention and Control.