Management of lung cancer in Africa: Underdiagnosis and poor access to treatment – A close look at Nigeria and West African Sub-region

Abstract

Lung cancer is of public health importance and imposes a great deal of socioeconomic and disease burden on the West African subregion and Nigeria in particular. It is one of the most common cancers worldwide and accounts for 11.4% of all new cancers. In this review, we did not find any well-coordinated lung cancer registry in either Nigeria or any other West African country. For us to attain any meaningful level of the interventional plan to address any identifiable deficiencies in the treatment of lung cancer in the West African subregion, it is imperative that a specific regional lung cancer registry with a regular audit of the reporting, is set up. There is an urgent need for further studies on the local risk factors predisposing to lung cancer, especially in the younger age group. Finally, intense pressure must be mounted on the governments within West Africa to implement the 15% GDP allocation to the health budget as agreed in the WHO/Abuja Declaration and to speed up efforts towards universal health insurance.