1,109,209 new cancer cases were recorded in Africa in 2020 (1).

16.8%  of new cases were breast cancer, with 186,568 women affected; 10.6% were cervical cancer (117,316 women affected), 6.4% were liver cancer (70,542 cases), and 6% were colorectal cancer (66,198 cases).

• Amongst men, prostate cancer made up 19.7% of new cases with 93,173 people affected, with lung cancer at 7% of new cases, affecting 33,282 people.

• The WHO estimates that 711,400 people died of cancer in Africa in 2020. (2)

• In Sub-Saharan Africa 34.8 new cervical cancer cases per 100,000 women are detected every year, with 22.5 womenper 100,000 dying from the disease (WHO 2020).

• Africa has the highest death rate in the world for breast cancer, with 85,800 deaths in 2020 (WHO).  Half of the women dying of the disease in Sub-Saharan Africa are under 50 years old.

“According to our assessments, more than 28,000 children died of cancer in 2020 in Sub-Saharan Africa”, estimates Dr Jean-Marie Dangou, coordinator of the noncommunicable diseases programme in the WHO’s regional office for Africa.

• The cancer survival rate amongst African children is only 30%, compared with 80% in high-income countries. (3)

• 95% of radiotherapy equipment can be accessed by only 20% of the world population (The Lancet, 2018).

In its 2020 report the WHO writes: “in the coming years the largest increase in case numbers will be in low and middle income countries with the lowest survival rates”.