African Region (AFR)

Introduction: Non-communicable diseases, and especially cancers, are recognized as an

increasing problem for low- and middle income countries. Effective control programmes

require adequate information on the size, nature, and evolution of the health problem which

they pose.

Methods: We present estimates of the incidence and mortality of cancer in Africa in 2012,

derived from “Globocan 2012”, published by the International Agency for Research on Cancer.

Results: There were 847,000 new cancer cases (6% of the world total) and 591,000 deaths (7.2%

of the world total) in the 54 countries of Africa in 2012, with about three quarters in the 47

countries of sub-Saharan Africa. While the cancer profiles often differ markedly between

regions, the most common cancers in men were prostate (16.4% of new cancers), liver (10.7%)

and Kaposi sarcoma (6.7%); in women, by far the most important are cancers of the breast

(27.6% of all cancers) and cervix uteri (20.4%).

Conclusions: These results are based on the best data currently available, and provide a

reasonable appraisal of the cancer situation in Africa. Nevertheless, there are still deficiencies in

surveillance systems, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa and, specifically, of their most vital

component, population based cancer registries. With the number of annual cancer cases and

deaths likely to increase by at least 70% by 2030 there is a pressing need for a coordinated

approach to improving the extent and quality of services for cancer control in Africa, and better

surveillance systems with which they can be planned and monitored.

registration, cancer registries, surveillance, epidemiology, surveillance, africa