Breast cancer is taking a growing toll of Africa’s economies – governments need to invest now to safeguard women’s lives and their productivity.
By Zainab Shinkafi-Bagudu
The news that Kenya will host the World Cancer Leaders’ Summit two years from now is a historic milestone and a powerful statement about Africa’s rising prominence in global cancer dialogues.
This summit will convene global decision-makers, civil society leaders, researchers, and private sector partners to advance strategies for equitable cancer prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. Just as importantly, it will ensure the lived experiences and priorities of affected African women and their communities are part of that global conversation.
This moment cannot come too soon. Today, a woman in Africa diagnosed with breast cancer has only a 50 per cent chance of surviving five years, compared to 90 per cent in high-income countries. Such inequity has been the driving force behind my work as a physician and with international cancer control bodies, including the Union of International Cancer Control and the Africa Breast Cancer Council.
Despite significant medical advances, breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths among women in Africa, accounting for almost 12 per cent of all cancer deaths on the continent. It is rising fast due to a combination of rising life expectancy and unhealthier lifestyles. Almost 200,000 women in Africa hear the words “you have breast cancer” every year. By 2045, this is expected to double to 400,000. Each death reverberates across society, destabilising families, burdening communities, and undermining Africa’s economic potential.
The key is catching breast cancer early, when survival rates are high and treatment is most effective. But in African countries, such early diagnoses are rare. In sub-Saharan Africa, an alarming 80 per cent of cases are diagnosed at a late stage, compared to only 15 per cent in the United Kingdom.
Had these women been diagnosed earlier and benefited from timely treatment, over a third of their deaths could have been prevented. Too few oncologists, scarce screening equipment, and poor follow-up care further stack the odds against patients. The costs of late treatment are enormous, compared to early detection, and to women’s incomes. In Nigeria, for example, the average cost of treating a woman with stage two breast cancer is 25 million naira ($17,400). The average salary for an educated, mid-level working woman is, at best, 9 million naira ($6,262).
Inadequate breast cancer care is needlessly costing African women their lives. But pockets of progress are emerging across the continent, proving that with the right approach, this cycle of loss can be broken.
In 2019, Egypt’s health ministry launched the Presidential Initiative on Women’s Health, a nationwide programme to tackle breast cancer by investing in awareness campaigns, screening services, infrastructure, and training. So far, the impact has been extraordinary: 60 million women have visited healthcare providers for screenings and consultations, over a third on first-time visits. More than 33,500 breast cancer cases have been detected, with thousands of women receiving life-saving treatment at no cost.
Every Egyptian pound invested in the initiative has generated 1.38 in returns, saving the economy a staggering 1.2 billion EGP (US$24.9 million). When a woman beats breast cancer, she gains back years of workforce participation and economic spending that would have otherwise been lost. The cumulative effect of lives saved is an engine of growth that no government can ignore.
But well-intended interventions are bound to fail when they overlook longstanding beliefs and behaviours. Research in South Africa shows that women often delay seeking medical care due to societal stigma, with breast cancer often being viewed as witchcraft, a sin, or a punishment. Many turn to traditional healers, compounding the risk of late diagnosis.
It is no exaggeration to say that the future of Africa depends on the health of women. As the burden of breast cancer rises across the continent, so too does the strain on families and economies. Each breast cancer death creates on average two maternal orphans, leaving children without care and putting the future of entire communities at risk.
Treating breast cancer effectively can change this trajectory, enabling women to live longer, participate in the workforce, and contribute to their communities – benefits that multiply across generations. New research from seven African countries highlights this point. It reveals the economic toll of the aggressive HER2+ form of breast cancer that accounts for 15-20 per cent of African cases and shows how providing the best available treatment in these countries generated over $17 million in economic gains, thanks to higher productivity and extended healthy life years.
Of course, we won’t solve all of these problems with a summit. But what we can do is lay the foundations for a new approach – one that combines political leadership, financial investment, smart partnerships, and community-driven solutions. It’s time for governments to act decisively to fund and implement breast cancer frameworks in their national cancer control strategies. We need to see a long-term commitment to ensuring that no African woman loses her life to a disease we know how to treat.
Dr Shinkafi-Bagudu is President-elect of the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) 2024-2026, Founder of the Medicaid Cancer Foundation, Chairperson of the First Ladies Against Cancer Nigeria, and member of the Africa Breast Cancer Council.
