Cancer is currently responsible for more than 7 million deaths per year worldwide, more than malaria, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS combined. There are more than 600 000 deaths annually in Africa from cancer. In the developing world, the number of new cancer cases will increase significantly over the next 10 years. By 2020 there are expected to be 15 million new cases of cancer every year, 70% of which will be in developing countries, where governments are least prepared to address the growing cancer burden and where survival rates are often less than half those in more developed countries. African countries will account for over a million new cancer cases a year and they are the least able of all developing countries to cope, having fewest cancer care services
