Cancer control in Africa: a call for action

Cancer is an emerging public health problem in Africa especially with increasing frequency of HIV-associated malignancies and exposure to environmental carcinogens. This review attempts to highlight steps that can be taken to achieve effective control programmes in low-resource areas of Africa. The author reviews the areas of importance in cancer control programmes based on local experience. To implement cancer control programmes, steps must be taken to improve the data collection on incidence and trends of common cancers with the establishment of local cancer registries. There is the necessity to increase the level of awareness of the population about common cancers, to dispel the cultural taboos and myths, and teach basic preventive health measures. These can be achieved by well-organized sustained educational programmes extended to the grass-roots with community participation. The training of personnel at community level to recognize the early signs and symptoms coupled with provision of primary health care facilities and basic sustained well-planned referral system will be necessary to accommodate the fall-out of educational programmes and anti-cancer campaign. The integration of cancer control activities into the existing health care structure would make it easier to sustain these programmes. The cost-effectiveness of prevention and early diagnosis of cancer cannot be over-emphasized in Africa. With government investment in national health and provision of facilities for early diagnosis and treatment, effective cancer control can be achieved.