By Simpson Global Media News Desk
Nigeria’s cancer-care advocate and paediatrician, Dr Zainab Shinkafi-Bagudu, is preparing to assume the presidency of the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC), becoming the first African to lead the international organisation as pressure grows for more equitable access to cancer prevention, diagnosis and treatment.
Her leadership comes at a critical moment for global health. Cancer cases and deaths are projected to increase substantially over the coming decades, with the greatest impact expected in countries where health systems face shortages of diagnostic equipment, specialist personnel, medicines and sustainable financing.
In an interview published by The Guardian on October 8, Shinkafi-Bagudu highlighted the need to make global cancer policy more responsive to the realities of lower-income countries, including those in Africa. She argued that constructing specialist hospitals alone would not solve the problem unless patients could also access screening, early diagnosis, treatment, trained professionals and financial protection.
The Nigerian physician is the founder of the Medicaid Cancer Foundation, which works to increase awareness and improve access to cancer services. She has also advocated for cervical cancer prevention, including the introduction of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination into Nigeria’s routine immunisation programme.
Her forthcoming international leadership provides an opportunity to elevate challenges experienced by Nigerian patients and other communities that struggle to obtain timely and affordable care. However, the impact of that leadership will depend on whether international commitments translate into stronger health systems, better-funded services and improved outcomes for patients.
A milestone for African representation
Shinkafi-Bagudu was selected as UICC president-elect for the 2024–2026 term. The organisation’s published leadership information identifies her as the incoming president, with the transition scheduled for October 2026.
The appointment marks a significant moment for African participation in international cancer policy. It places a Nigerian health professional with direct experience of the country’s healthcare challenges at the head of an organisation that connects cancer-control bodies, patient groups, research institutions and other partners across the world.
The UICC works with more than 1,100 member organisations in over 170 countries. Its activities include promoting cancer prevention, supporting improvements in diagnosis and treatment, encouraging collaboration among health organisations and advocating for policies intended to reduce the global cancer burden.
Shinkafi-Bagudu’s professional background spans clinical medicine, cancer advocacy and health-policy engagement. Her experience in Nigeria has exposed her to challenges that include late diagnosis, limited screening, the high cost of treatment and the difficulty many families face when navigating available support programmes.
Those issues are particularly important in countries where a cancer diagnosis can bring substantial financial pressure alongside the emotional and physical consequences of the disease.
Her appointment does not, by itself, resolve these problems. Rather, it gives her a prominent platform from which to press for greater attention to the needs of countries whose cancer services remain underfunded or unevenly distributed.
Global cancer burden projected to rise
The leadership transition comes as projections point to a growing worldwide need for cancer services.
According to figures cited by The Guardian from the International Agency for Research on Cancer, an estimated 20.6 million people were diagnosed with cancer in 2024, while approximately 9.8 million died from the disease.
The agency’s projections indicate that annual diagnoses could rise to more than 34 million by 2050. Annual cancer deaths could reach approximately 17.5 million if the projected increase materialises.
These forecasts underline the importance of strengthening prevention, diagnosis and treatment before health systems become further overwhelmed by rising demand.
The burden will not be distributed equally. Countries with limited access to screening, diagnostic technology, specialist treatment and reliable health financing are at risk of facing especially serious consequences.
In such settings, patients may experience long delays between noticing symptoms, obtaining a diagnosis and beginning treatment. Some may have to travel considerable distances to reach facilities offering specialised services. Others may struggle to pay for investigations, medicines, surgery or repeated hospital visits.
These barriers can reduce the chances of receiving timely care and place additional pressure on families already dealing with illness.
Shinkafi-Bagudu has called for global cancer policy to pay closer attention to these inequalities. Her position is that advances in cancer research and treatment must be matched by practical measures that enable people in lower-income countries to benefit from them.
Why building more cancer centres is not enough
Specialist hospitals and cancer centres are important parts of a functioning cancer-care system. They can provide diagnostic investigations, surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and other services required by patients.
However, a building alone cannot guarantee access to effective treatment.
Cancer centres require trained health professionals, reliable electricity, functioning equipment, medicines, maintenance budgets and systems for referring patients from primary and secondary healthcare facilities. They also need the capacity to identify cancers early enough for treatment to be effective.
In many communities, the journey to cancer care begins long before a patient reaches a specialist hospital. People need reliable information about symptoms, access to health workers who can recognise warning signs and affordable investigations that can establish a diagnosis.
Where those services are weak, patients may reach specialist centres only after their disease has advanced.
Shinkafi-Bagudu has emphasised the importance of connecting cancer facilities with prevention, screening, early diagnosis and financial support. Her argument is that governments and partners must consider the complete patient journey rather than measuring progress solely by the number of hospitals constructed.
This approach also requires better coordination between primary healthcare centres, referral hospitals, laboratories, cancer specialists and organisations supporting patients.
For Nigeria, stronger links between these services could help reduce delays and make it easier for patients to understand where to seek assistance.
Late diagnosis remains a serious challenge in Nigeria
Cervical cancer illustrates some of the difficulties facing Nigeria’s cancer-control efforts.
In an interview published by the UICC in January 2026, Shinkafi-Bagudu highlighted the country’s gaps in screening coverage, cancer data collection, public awareness and access to treatment.
She said that approximately 90 per cent of cervical cancer cases in Nigeria were being diagnosed at advanced stages, reflecting weaknesses in routine screening and access to timely care.
Late diagnosis can make treatment more complicated and costly. It may also reduce the range of treatment options available, depending on the type and stage of cancer and the patient’s overall condition.
The challenge is not limited to cervical cancer. More broadly, effective cancer control depends on people being able to access appropriate health services before symptoms become severe.
Public awareness can help people understand when to seek medical attention, but awareness campaigns must be supported by affordable services. Encouraging screening without ensuring that facilities can provide testing, communicate results and arrange treatment may leave patients uncertain about what to do next.
Health professionals also need adequate training and referral pathways so that suspicious symptoms and abnormal screening results are investigated promptly.
Improving cancer outcomes therefore requires sustained investment in community-level services as well as specialist treatment facilities.
HPV vaccination offers an opportunity for prevention
One of Shinkafi-Bagudu’s areas of advocacy has been the prevention of cervical cancer through vaccination against human papillomavirus.
HPV is a common virus, and persistent infection with certain high-risk types can cause cervical cancer. Vaccination can substantially reduce the risk of HPV-related disease, making it an important component of long-term prevention.
Nigeria introduced HPV vaccination into its routine immunisation programme in 2023. According to the UICC’s January 2026 report, approximately 17 million girls had received the vaccine since its introduction.
The same report noted that this represented progress but remained below the World Health Organization’s target of vaccinating 90 per cent of girls by age 15 by 2030.
Reaching more eligible girls will require reliable vaccine supplies, accessible vaccination services, effective communication with parents and communities, and sustained funding.
Misinformation can undermine uptake when families receive misleading claims about vaccine safety or effectiveness. Health authorities and their partners need to respond with clear information delivered through trusted local channels.
Schools, primary healthcare workers, community leaders and civil society organisations can help explain the benefits of vaccination and answer questions from parents.
Communication must also be sensitive to local concerns and available in languages people understand. A programme that relies only on written materials may fail to reach communities where literacy, access to information or trust in official messaging is limited.
Vaccination is only one part of cervical cancer elimination. Screening and timely treatment of precancerous changes remain essential for protecting women who are already at risk or who have not been vaccinated.
Screening must be affordable and accessible
Screening can identify disease or precancerous changes before they develop into more serious problems. For cervical cancer, screening programmes can help health workers identify women who need further assessment and treatment.
Yet screening coverage can remain low when services are expensive, difficult to reach or poorly integrated into routine healthcare.
The UICC report noted that Nigeria’s cervical cancer screening coverage was estimated at about 15 per cent, according to Shinkafi-Bagudu, while the country’s stated target was to screen 50 per cent of eligible women and treat all detected precancerous lesions by 2027.
The gap highlights the scale of work required to expand access.
For many women, the cost of transportation, tests, consultations and follow-up visits can discourage participation. Rural communities may face additional difficulties because screening facilities and trained personnel are concentrated in larger towns and cities.
Making screening more accessible could involve integrating appropriate services into primary healthcare, training health workers, improving referral systems and reducing the cost of testing.
It is equally important to ensure that women who receive abnormal results can access further investigations and treatment. Screening programmes are most useful when they form part of a complete care pathway rather than operating as isolated campaigns.
Better records would also help health authorities identify underserved areas, measure progress and direct resources where they are most needed.
Financing can determine whether patients receive treatment
Cancer care can involve several stages of expenditure, including diagnostic tests, consultations, surgery, medicines, radiotherapy, follow-up appointments and supportive care.
For households without adequate health insurance or savings, the cumulative cost can become overwhelming.
Financial pressure may cause patients to delay investigations, interrupt treatment or abandon care. Families can also face indirect costs when relatives leave work to accompany patients to appointments or provide support during treatment.
Shinkafi-Bagudu has made reducing the financial burden on patients a central concern in her advocacy. She has argued that cancer-control programmes must include mechanisms that help protect vulnerable people from unaffordable expenses.
Nigeria has introduced different funding initiatives intended to improve access to treatment, including the Cancer Health Fund and other health-financing interventions. However, awareness of these schemes, eligibility requirements, availability of funds and the ability to navigate application procedures can affect whether patients benefit.
The UICC’s January report noted that patients and families may not always know what support is available. Overstretched health workers can also have limited time to guide people through the options.
Improving access therefore involves more than creating a funding programme. Patients need clear information, transparent eligibility rules, accessible application processes and participating facilities able to deliver the services covered.
Governments and partners must also consider how funding can be sustained as demand grows.
A proposed global financing mechanism
At the international level, Shinkafi-Bagudu has expressed support for efforts to develop a global cancer-financing platform inspired in part by mechanisms used to mobilise resources for HIV, tuberculosis and malaria.
The proposal seeks to bring greater attention and funding to cancer prevention, diagnosis and treatment, particularly in countries where public resources are limited.
Such an approach would require agreement among governments, donors, health organisations and other potential contributors on how money would be raised, distributed and monitored.
It would also need clear priorities to ensure that funding reaches interventions with strong public-health value and supports countries with the greatest unmet needs.
The idea faces practical challenges. Governments already have competing demands on their budgets, while international development assistance is under pressure. A new financing mechanism would need to demonstrate how it could complement existing programmes, avoid unnecessary duplication and produce measurable results.
It would also need safeguards to ensure that money is used transparently and reaches patients rather than being absorbed by administrative costs.
No new global financing platform should be regarded as a substitute for national investment in health services. Sustainable cancer control depends on countries developing reliable systems for prevention, diagnosis, treatment and patient support.
However, international financing could potentially help address gaps that individual countries cannot easily overcome alone, particularly in research, specialist training, access to essential technologies and services for underserved populations.
Research and specialist training are critical
Cancer care depends on a workforce with the skills to diagnose disease, determine appropriate treatment and support patients throughout their care.
That workforce includes doctors, nurses, laboratory scientists, radiographers, pharmacists, pathologists, radiation therapists, researchers and palliative-care professionals.
Where these skills are scarce, patients may face delays or have to travel to another city or country to obtain particular services.
Shinkafi-Bagudu has called for Africa to play a larger role in cancer research rather than remaining primarily a recipient of discoveries and training developed elsewhere.
Greater African participation could help ensure that research addresses the diseases, health-system conditions and patient needs found across the continent.
Local research can also help governments understand cancer patterns, evaluate prevention programmes and determine which interventions are most effective in different settings.
Building research capacity requires investment in laboratories, training, reliable data systems and partnerships between universities, hospitals and research institutions. It also requires career pathways that allow trained specialists to remain in the region and contribute to local health services.
International collaboration remains important, but it should strengthen local capacity and support the development of expertise within African institutions.
Training programmes can help health workers develop skills in radiotherapy, cancer technology and other specialist areas. Such efforts must be accompanied by investments in equipment, maintenance and service delivery so that newly trained professionals can apply their knowledge effectively.
Childhood and liver cancers among areas requiring attention
Shinkafi-Bagudu has indicated that childhood cancers and liver cancer linked to hepatitis are among the areas she wants to bring greater attention to during her international leadership.
Childhood cancer presents particular challenges because symptoms may be difficult to recognise and families often need specialised diagnostic and treatment services. Outcomes depend on the type of cancer, the stage at diagnosis, the availability of appropriate treatment and the ability to complete care.
For families, the experience can involve prolonged hospital visits, significant expenses and disruption to education and daily life.
Liver cancer prevention and control also require attention to underlying risk factors, including hepatitis infections. Vaccination against hepatitis B, appropriate testing, access to treatment for eligible patients and public-health measures that reduce transmission can contribute to reducing the burden of hepatitis-related disease.
These examples demonstrate why cancer control must connect prevention with diagnosis, treatment and long-term follow-up.
Different cancers require different approaches, and policies should be informed by evidence about disease patterns, risk factors and the availability of effective interventions.
The role of reliable cancer data
Health authorities cannot plan services effectively without a reasonably accurate understanding of how many people are affected, where patients live, which cancers are most common and what outcomes they experience.
Cancer registries help collect and organise information about new diagnoses and can support planning, research and evaluation.
In Nigeria, weaknesses in data collection have complicated efforts to determine the full extent of the cancer burden. The UICC report described efforts to improve registration systems through the National Institute for Cancer Research and Treatment, working with partners to expand registries, update software and build capacity.
Better data can help governments identify areas with high unmet needs, estimate the number of specialists and facilities required, and monitor whether prevention and treatment programmes are working.
Reliable information also supports the evaluation of spending. If policymakers can measure changes in diagnosis, treatment access and outcomes, they are better positioned to identify programmes that need improvement.
However, data systems require consistent funding, trained personnel, suitable technology and clear standards for protecting patient confidentiality.
Information must also be collected across different parts of the health system so that patients treated in different facilities are not overlooked or counted inaccurately.
What the UICC presidency could mean for Nigeria
Shinkafi-Bagudu’s international role could give Nigerian cancer-control priorities greater visibility in discussions involving governments, researchers, donors and health organisations.
Nigeria’s experience offers examples of challenges that affect many other countries, including the need to expand screening, strengthen primary healthcare, improve access to specialist treatment and reduce financial hardship for patients.
The country could benefit from stronger international partnerships in areas such as professional training, research, prevention programmes and the exchange of practical approaches to improving services.
But international visibility must be matched by domestic implementation.
National and state authorities remain responsible for making healthcare services accessible to their populations. They must determine priorities, allocate resources, strengthen institutions and ensure that policies translate into services people can actually use.
Civil society organisations and patient groups can contribute by identifying barriers, providing support and helping communities understand available services. Health professionals can improve early detection and referral, while research institutions can produce evidence to guide policy.
Private-sector participation may also support the provision of diagnostics, medicines, technology and training, provided that partnerships are structured to advance public-health objectives and protect patients.
The challenge is to coordinate these contributions within a system that is accountable for results.
Measuring success beyond appointments
The significance of Shinkafi-Bagudu’s leadership will ultimately be judged by whether it contributes to measurable progress in cancer prevention and care.
The UICC has identified goals that include reducing cancer mortality by 25 per cent by 2035, reducing exposure to major cancer risk factors and ensuring that 60 per cent of cancers are diagnosed at an early stage.
Achieving such ambitions requires long-term commitment. Prevention programmes must reach the people who need them, screening must be followed by diagnosis and treatment, and cancer services must remain available when patients require them.
For Nigeria, progress could be reflected in wider HPV vaccination coverage, more accessible screening, shorter delays before diagnosis, better access to appropriate treatment and improved financial protection for patients.
Stronger cancer registries would help determine whether these improvements are occurring and which groups remain underserved.
Governments and partners will also need to ensure that progress is not limited to major urban centres. People in rural communities and low-income households should be able to access appropriate services without facing prohibitive travel or financial barriers.
The country’s health system must be able to support patients throughout the course of illness, including those who need pain relief, rehabilitation or palliative care.
A leadership opportunity with practical tests ahead
Shinkafi-Bagudu’s move into global cancer leadership represents a milestone for African representation in international health advocacy. Her experience in Nigeria places her in a position to explain how global cancer policies interact with the realities faced by patients and healthcare providers in resource-constrained settings.
Her priorities include improving prevention and early diagnosis, widening access to treatment, strengthening research and finding more sustainable ways to finance cancer care.
These are substantial challenges that cannot be solved by one organisation or leader. They require cooperation among governments, healthcare institutions, researchers, international agencies, donors and communities.
For patients, the most meaningful progress will be practical: being able to obtain a diagnosis sooner, finding treatment within reach, receiving accurate information and avoiding financial ruin because of illness.
The central question is therefore not simply who leads the global cancer-control movement, but whether that leadership can help mobilise the resources and political commitment needed to improve care.
As Shinkafi-Bagudu prepares to take up the UICC presidency, Nigeria’s cancer-care challenges are likely to remain an important part of the international conversation. The lasting measure of success will be whether that attention helps turn promises into better prevention, earlier diagnosis and more accessible treatment for people who need it.
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