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Comprehensive & Cost Effective Laboratory Monitoring of HIV/AIDS: an African Role Model
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75 Years of Cancer Research in Sub-Saharan Africa
Jennifer Fraser1, Thandeka Cochrane1, David Reubi1
1Jennifer Fraser, Thandeka Cochrane, David Reubi, and Lily Mahdavi are members of the Cartographies of Cancer project based at King's College London's Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, United Kingdom.
Abstract:
This study provides a historical overview of 75 years of cancer research in sub-Saharan Africa, challenging narratives that frame cancer as a new or emerging health concern in the region. Drawing on a comprehensive review of scientific publications from key African and international medical journals, complemented by archival research and in-depth subject matter expertise, this work maps major shifts in research priorities, authorship, and institutional contexts from 1945 to 2019. In doing so, it outlines the ebbs and flows of cancer publications and research from the mid-20th-century surge of activity emerging as a result of imperial ambitions and scientific interests, to the decline in international visibility following decolonization, and the later resurgence of African-led research rooted in regional clinical priorities. This article emphasizes the dual legacy of Africa as both a significant site of global oncological discovery and a region where structural inequities and colonial hierarchies of knowledge and value have long constrained cancer care and research capacity. Understanding this history is essential for informing present initiatives. (Am J Public Health. Published online ahead of print October 22, 2026:e1-e11. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2026.308751).
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