Achieving the cancer moonshot in Africa

Abstract

For decades now, the United States (US) has been a leading contributor in global health with the government, academic institutions, foundations, non-profits and industry investing and partnering with African countries, as seen with the US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) program. Now as more people survive HIV/AIDs and other infectious diseases in Africa and live longer, non-communicable diseases like cancer are on the rise, in what can be described as a growing health iceberg, hidden under epidemics of infectious diseases. There is now more urgent need for international collaborations on cancer, which has become a leading cause of death in both Africa and the US, underpinned by poignant disparities in access to care. The re-ignited Cancer Moonshot in the USA and publication of the Lancet Oncology Commission report for sub-Saharan Africa in 2022 provide a timely and valuable framework for growing US-Africa collaborations in the coming years towards attaining the goal of the cancer moonshot both in the US and Africa. This goal is to reduce cancer death rate by at least 50% over the next 25 years, and to improve the experience of those living with and surviving cancer. The US-Africa summit taking place in Washington in December 2022 provides a momentous opportunity to identify recommendations or priority areas, some of them included in this article, and initiating action for win-win collaborations towards achieving the cancer moonshot in Africa.

Keywords: USA; africa; cancer moonshot; collaboration; global health.

Figure 1.. Potential areas and opportunities where the Cancer Moonshot aligns with the LOC priorities for sub-Saharan Africa for win-win collaborations.