141st APHA Annual Meeting

In This section

288679
Establishing the Kumasi Cancer Registry: Reflections on epidemiologic surveillance of cancers in Africa

Monday, November 4, 2013 : 11:32 AM - 11:48 AM

Iman K. Martin, MPH MS PhD , Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health, Chicago, IL
Dennis O. Laryea, BSc MBChB MPH MGCP , Public Health Unit, Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Kumasi, Ghana
Henry Wabinga, PhD , Uganda Cancer Institute, Mulago Hospital and the Makerere University School of Medicine, andbKampala Cancer Registry, Department of Pathology, Makerere University School of Medicine, Kampala, Uganda, Kampala, Uganda
Anne Korir, MPH PhDc , Nairobi Cancer Registry, Kenya Medical Research Institute, Nairobi, Kenya
Rick Kittles, PhD , Institute of Human Genetics, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL
Adam Murphy, MD , Dept. of Urology, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL
Christopher Li, MD PhD MPH , Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA
Joe Zunt, MD , University of Washington, Seattle, WA
Baffour Awuah, MD , National Center for Radiotherapy and Nuclear Medicine, Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Kumasi, Ghana
Issues: Cancers are increasingly important contributors to morbidity and mortality in developing and resource-poor areas. According to the World Health Organization, by 2020, there may be 16 million new cancer cases per annum, 70% of which occurring in developing countries. In these contexts, cancer patients are more likely to present at late stages, with poor prognoses. The capacity to adequately evaluate the burden of cancer in African populations is limited, yet important to improving cancer control efforts. Description: We present a brief history of cancer in Africa, subsequently describing the current state of cancer registration in Sub-Saharan Africa, utilizing data from active hospital and population-based cancer registries (PBCR). We will discuss the fundamental principles of PBCR and cancer surveillance and the context-specific challenges to capacity-building in cancer surveillance observed during an 11-month multinational fellowship experience focused on cancer registrar training and registry development. Lessons Learned: We will describe the curriculum content and approaches used to build a new cancer registration team in Kumasi, Ghana, and highlight the registry protocol development milestones reached during the fellowship period. Recommendations: Multinational collaborative capacity-building efforts, which harness local intellectual and logistics resources, will continue to improve the cancers surveillance in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Learning Areas:
Chronic disease management and prevention
Diversity and culture
Epidemiology
Ethics, professional and legal requirements
Program planning
Public health or related research

Learning Objectives:
Describe the history and fundamental principles of cancer registration; describe the current developments of cancer registration in sub-Saharan Africa; discuss triumphs and challenges in initiating population-based cancer registration as observed during an multinational 11-month exposure to ongoing efforts to improve cancer surveillance in the region; Discuss specific milestones achieved in the efforts to establish population-based cancer registration in Kumasi, Ghana.

Keywords: Cancer, Surveillance

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have been awarded a Fogarty Fellowship focused on cancer registration and have participated in various AFCRN/INCTR/IARC training programs in population-based registration in Africa.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.