Date: February 28^th 2024
Time: 3-4 p.m. (Cameroon time GMT+1)
Venue : Zoom Online (Register now)

Background
The increasing burden of cancer in Africa has become a significant public health concern, with the region experiencing a growing crisis in cancer incidence and mortality. According to Global Cancer Incidence, Mortality and Prevalence (GLOBOCAN), an estimated 19.3 million new cancer cases and almost 10.0 million cancer related deaths occurred worldwide in 2020. In a report published by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in 2022, the disease is among the three leading causes of premature death (death occurring between 30–69 years) in almost all constituent countries of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and is responsible for 1 in 7 premature deaths overall. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that the annual number of new cancer cases in Africa will exceed one million over the next five years, with changes in lifestyle and ageing population contributing to the increasing burden of the disease. The mortality rate for cancer patients in sub-Saharan Africa is twice that of American patients, usually as a result of delayed diagnosis and limited access to treatment. Despite these burden, most African nations are far from adequately scaling up their capacity to control cancer. Inaccessible diagnosis and therapy, as well as late-stage presentation of patients, are frequent. According to the World economic forum, cancer treatment and care is available in less than 15% of LMICs, against more than 90% of high income countries. Indeed, more than 50% of cancer medicines on the WHO list of essential medicine are not available to patients living in LMICs. In SSA, affordability and availability of cancer treatment regimens present significant obstacles that necessitate the implementation of long-term efforts and regulations, in order to guarantee that cancer patients, have access to high-quality and reasonably priced therapies. There is thus an urgent need to expand access to cancer medicines in Africa and sustainable initiatives and policies are crucial to achieving this goal. It is in that light that this webinar is organized, to discuss issues surrounding access to cancer therapy in Africa.

Objectives

1. Discuss of the barriers of access to cancer therapies in Africa
2. Discuss on the resources available for cancer therapy in Africa
3. Explore and analyze cancer control health policies in Africa
4. Discuss on the strategies to adopt to ameliorate access to cancer therapy in Africa

Expected output

We are expecting to have insightful and achievable solutions for the amelioration of cancer therapy access in Africa which will be translated into a policy brief and published on On Policy Magazine.

Target Audience

This webinar is intended for researchers, public health specialists, health care professionals, university lecturers, students and health enthusiasts.

Venue

This panel discussion will be an online event hosted on the zoom platform and broadcasted on facebook. Moreover, the panel discussion will be recorded and published on youtube