The global cancer burden is growing and shifting rapidly. The most rapid rise in incidence is observed in developing and low-income countries, where cancer risk historically has been considerably lower.

 

The increasing cancer incidence in Africa and other emerging economies is widely considered as a result of the westernization of lifestyles –unhealthy diet and physical inactivity, environmental pollution, and infectious agents.

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In 2020, cancer accounted for 10 million deaths globally, more than AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis combined.

 

About 70% of these deaths occurred in low- and middle-income countries where resources for prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer are limited or nonexistent, where governments are least prepared to address the growing cancer burden and survival rates are often low.

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More than two-thirds of cancers diagnosed in Africa are locally advanced where cure is often impossible. Thus majority of cancer cases present to the hospitals with late stages where cure is often impossible but pain control is the only treatment option. Those who die from cancers normally leave behind orphans. In addition, the combined effects of cancer, poverty, deprivation and infectious diseases hinder the development of a sustainable population and consequently a sustainable future.

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The result of the rising high incidence of cancer in developing world coupled with inadequate resources for prevention, early detection and treatment programs, cancer has become an important cause of premature deaths and suffering in these less developed parts of the world.

 

Furthermore, it is projected that the incidence of cancer in developing countries will continue to increase with further westernization. By 2040, more than two-thirds of new cancer cases will be in low- and middle-income countries, where survival rates are currently the lowest.