Abstract A028: Revisiting cancer care inequities in Sub-Saharan Africa: standpoint and recommendations
Authors: Teibo John Oluwafemi , Omotoso Olabode , Atiba Festus Adebayo , Oladimeji Tolulope , Paimo Tomiwa Kehinde , Ataya Farid S. , El-Saber Batiha Gaber , Alexiou Athanasios 
Published: September 2024

Introduction: Cancer is a major global public health concern that claims around 2000 lives per day in Africa alone. Mortality rates are expected to rise in the absence of appropriate interventions. Equity and prioritizing are the main obstacles to cancer care in Africa, as policymakers and other stakeholders in the healthcare system do not give cancer enough attention. All aspects of the cancer care continuum especially these three main levels of cancer care—prevention, diagnosis, and treatment/management—are negatively impacted by this neglect. Addressing concerns of equity and prioritizing is essential to promoting equality in cancer care, as it guarantees that all individuals have an equal opportunity at cancer prevention, early detection, appropriate therapy, and follow-up treatment. Methods: We present an overview of the current status of cancer care in Africa and offer recommendations to bridge the gap using the material currently accessible from recognized databases. Results: Insufficient funding for cancer research, inadequate screening or diagnostic facilities, a lack of a well-organized and efficient cancer registry system and access to care, a shortage of specialized medical staff, high costs for screening, vaccination, and treatment, a lack of technical capacity, poor vaccination response, and late patient presentation for cancer screening are some of the factors that we highlighted as contributing to the disparity in cancer care in Africa. We also offer suggestions on overcoming some of these barriers to achieving fairness in cancer care. Our recommendations are broken down into capacity-based and national-level initiatives. These include improving healthcare budgeting for personnel, supplies, and facilities; encouraging screening and vaccine uptake; raising awareness of cancer health among medical professionals during every hospital visit, gaining knowledge through specialized training, financing cancer research, offering cancer insurance, and putting mobile health technologies to use for telemedicine diagnosis.Conclusion: A comprehensive approach to addressing issues related to cancer equity would increase the chances of cancer patients surviving longer, reduce risk factors for at-risk groups, and guarantee fair access to cancer care across the continent. This report describes the present barriers to achieving equity in cancer care, identifies the African countries' current positions on the matter, and offers recommendations that could have the greatest impact on achieving equity in cancer care.

Citation Format: John Oluwafemi Teibo, Olabode Omotoso, Festus Adebayo Atiba, Tolulope Oladimeji, Tomiwa Kehinde Paimo, Farid S. Ataya, Gaber El-Saber Batiha, Athanasios Alexiou. Revisiting cancer care inequities in Sub-Saharan Africa: standpoint and recommendations [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 17th AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2024 Sep 21-24; Los Angeles, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2024;33(9 Suppl):Abstract nr A028.