‘Cancer is tripling and will keep increasing’: first African to lead global action against disease ready for battle
Source: Guardian Health ↗
Zainab Shinkafi‑Bagudu, a Nigerian paediatrician and cancer‑patient advocate, was elected president of the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC), becoming the first African to lead the global body that represents more than 1,100 member organisations in over 170 countries. Her election was announced at the World Cancer Congress in Hong Kong, where more than 2,000 delegates from 124 nations gathered, and comes at a moment when the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer projects cancer diagnoses to rise from 20.6 million in 2024 to over 34 million by 2050, with deaths climbing to an estimated 17.5 million—most of the increase expected in low‑income nations. Bagudu highlighted the stark contrast between the growing burden and the chronic shortages of diagnostic equipment, radiotherapy, medicines, trained specialists and financing that plague health systems across the global south.
The congress underscored the systemic gaps that fuel the epidemic: less than half of the world’s population has access to basic diagnostic services, many patients in low‑ and middle‑income countries must pay out‑of‑pocket, and only 14 percent of the 73 million people who need palliative care annually receive it. Bagudu argued that simply constructing more cancer centres is insufficient; comprehensive solutions must integrate screening, early detection, affordable treatment, trained health workers and financial protection to prevent families from catastrophic expenses. Drawing on her experience founding a Nigerian cancer‑awareness initiative and campaigning for the inclusion of a single‑dose HPV vaccine in Nigeria’s routine immunisation in 2023, she plans to use the UICC as a conduit to bring the challenges of under‑resourced countries to the attention of wealthier nations and to mobilise technology, research and treatment advances for those settings.
Looking ahead, Bagudu intends to champion a global financing mechanism for cancer modeled on the Global Fund that supports HIV, tuberculosis and malaria, seeking to pool resources from governments, donors and private actors to bolster prevention, diagnosis and treatment worldwide. She will prioritize cancers that are largely preventable or treatable with existing interventions, such as childhood malignancies and liver cancer linked to hepatitis, while also advocating for stronger financial safeguards to reduce the “financial toxicity” faced by patients in rural villages. Her agenda arrives as African governments juggle competing health priorities and international development aid faces cuts, making her push for a dedicated cancer funding platform both timely and critical for reshaping global health equity.
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🌍World Economylow impact
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🌍 Effects for your country
The U.S.'s central bank rate currently stands at 3.75%, so a global rates move like this could feed through to local borrowing costs. The U.S.'s economy is growing at 2.3% with inflation at 3.2%, the backdrop this story's effects play out against locally. Housing-market effects like this are usually felt most where mortgage rates track the U.S.'s own central bank rate closely. With the U.S.'s unemployment at 4.4%, personal-finance effects like this land on a labour market that is currently fairly stable. Health-system effects are harder to localise from economic indicators alone — the real impact in the U.S. depends more on local healthcare capacity than the figures above.
The UK's central bank rate currently stands at 3.75%, so a global rates move like this could feed through to local borrowing costs. The UK's economy is growing at 0.8% with inflation at 3.2%, the backdrop this story's effects play out against locally. Housing-market effects like this are usually felt most where mortgage rates track the UK's own central bank rate closely. With the UK's unemployment at 5.6%, personal-finance effects like this land on a labour market that is currently fairly stable. Health-system effects are harder to localise from economic indicators alone — the real impact in the UK depends more on local healthcare capacity than the figures above.
France's central bank rate currently stands at 2%, so a global rates move like this could feed through to local borrowing costs. France's economy is growing at 0.9% with inflation at 1.8%, the backdrop this story's effects play out against locally. Housing-market effects like this are usually felt most where mortgage rates track France's own central bank rate closely. With France's unemployment at 7.9%, personal-finance effects like this land on a labour market that is already under strain. Health-system effects are harder to localise from economic indicators alone — the real impact in France depends more on local healthcare capacity than the figures above.
Romania's central bank rate currently stands at 6.5%, so a global rates move like this could feed through to local borrowing costs. Romania's economy is growing at 0.7% with inflation at 7.8%, the backdrop this story's effects play out against locally. Housing-market effects like this are usually felt most where mortgage rates track Romania's own central bank rate closely. With Romania's unemployment at 6%, personal-finance effects like this land on a labour market that is currently fairly stable. Health-system effects are harder to localise from economic indicators alone — the real impact in Romania depends more on local healthcare capacity than the figures above.
The UAE's central bank rate currently stands at 3.65%, so a global rates move like this could feed through to local borrowing costs. The UAE's economy is growing at 3.1% with inflation at 2.5%, the backdrop this story's effects play out against locally. Housing-market effects like this are usually felt most where mortgage rates track the UAE's own central bank rate closely. Health-system effects are harder to localise from economic indicators alone — the real impact in the UAE depends more on local healthcare capacity than the figures above.