The high burden of breast and cervical cancers in low-resource settings is largely unrecognised. The fact is that women in low-resource settings suffer disproportionately from these cancers due to a lack of detection at an early stage and poor access to quality cancer services. As a result very often women are diagnosed with advanced disease that is not responsive to curative treatment. As well as the emotional trauma, there are also consequences for employers - major interruptions to workforce participation apply to both women diagnosed with cancer and their caregivers. In Nigeria, for example, 62% of women with breast cancer or cervical cancer report their inability to work, while 33% report that their illness disrupted a relative’s work.