Capacity building in sub-Saharan Africa: models of care

Abstract

The incidence of cancer is expected to increase by 70% in the next two decades, with the greatest proportion of cases coming from low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). Additionally, mortality will be disproportionately higher in LMICs, where infrastructure, access to care, and workforce capacity is ill prepared for this crisis in cancer. Perhaps the best example of this dichotomy is in sub-Saharan Africa, where the population, after weathering an HIV/AIDS epidemic, is now facing the problems of non-communicable chronic diseases such as cancer, heart disease, and diabetes.1 Learning from the lessons of public–private partnerships that were built during the response to HIV, opportunities to address capacity building for clinical care, research, and education also exist for addressing the issue of cancer