Cancer in Sub-Saharan Africa: The need for new paradigms in global health

Abstract

This repository item contains a single issue of The Pardee Papers, a series papers that began publishing in 2008 by the Boston University Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future. The Pardee Papers series features working papers by Pardee Center Fellows and other invited authors. Papers in this series explore current and future challenges by anticipating the pathways to human progress, human development, and human well-being. This series includes papers on a wide range of topics, with a special emphasis on interdisciplinary perspectives and a development orientation.Cancer is the leading global cause of death, and has been on the rise in low- and middle-income countries in sub-Saharan Africa and worldwide, which are projected to account for roughly 80 percent of global cancer diagnoses by 2030. Much like the inadequate funding and priority-setting that plagued the treatment of HIV/AIDS early in the epidemic, cancer treatment is suffering from a cycle of inaction in sub-Saharan Africa. In this paper, Maia Olsen, a 2013 Pardee Graduate Summer Fellow, examines the lessons learned from the global response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa and applies them to the future of political advocacy, funding, and treatment of cancer in the region. Maia Olsen is a Program Manager for the NCD Synergies project at Partners In Health, a policy and advocacy program focused on non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and injuries among the poorest populations worldwide. She holds an MPH in International Health from Boston University and a BA in Anthropology and Global Development Studies from Grinnell College