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BackgroundCancer remains a major public health problem, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) where the provision of health care is poor. This scoping review mapped evidence in the literature regarding the burden of cervical, breast and prostate cancers in SSA. MethodsWe conducted this scoping review using the Arksey and O'Malley framework, with five steps: identifying the research question; searching for relevant studies; selecting studies; charting the data; and collating, summarizing, and reporting the data. We performed all the steps independently and resolved disagreements through discussion. We used Endnote software to manage references and the Rayyan software to screen studies. ResultsWe found 138 studies that met our inclusion criteria from 2,751 studies identified through the electronic databases. The majority were retrospective studies of mostly registries and patient files (n= 77, 55.8%), followed by cross-sectional studies (n= 51, 36.9%). We included studies published from 1990 to 2021, with a sharp increase from 2010 to 2021. The quality of studies was overall satisfactory. Most studies were done in South Africa (n= 20) and Nigeria (n= 17). The majority were on cervical cancer (n= 93, 67.4%), followed by breast cancer (67, 48.6%) and the least were on prostate cancer (48, 34.8%). Concerning the burden of cancer, most reported prevalence and incidence. We also found a few studies investigating mortality, disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), and years of life lost (YLL). ConclusionsWe found many retrospective record review cross-sectional studies, mainly in South Africa and Nigeria, reporting the prevalence and incidence of cervical, breast and prostate cancer in SSA. There were a few systematic and scoping reviews. There is a scarcity of cervical, breast and prostate cancer burden studies in several SSA countries. The findings in this study can inform policy on improving the public health systems and therefore reduce cancer incidence and mortality in SSA.
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This content will become publicly available on December 1, 2026
Wonder drugs and where to use them: a forecast of ivermectin's impact on malaria in Africa
A study in Burkina Faso revealed ivermectin inhibits malaria transmission by killing malaria parasites and mosquitoes. However, it is unknown what effect this drug will have on the malaria transmission intensities of the rest of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). To address this issue, we created a mathematical model using malaria transmission data from 41 SSA countries to evaluate the antimalarial benefits of a mass drug administration (MDA) of ivermectin. To account for ivermectin's effect on malaria, we incorporate estimates of its ability to inhibit malaria transmission and kill mosquitoes. We consider scenarios where 0, 12.5 %, 25.0 %, and 50.0 % of the population receive ivermectin over five years and estimate malaria incidence averted, disability-adjusted life years saved, and the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio. Our findings show that an MDA of ivermectin to 12.5 %, 25 %, or 50 % of the population annually averts 248.7, 261.4, and 288.7 incidences per thousand people and saves 5.4, 5.7, and 6.3 disability-adjusted life years, respectively. These values indicate that an MDA of ivermectin would be cost-effective in 41, 18, and 6 countries, and very cost-effective in 22, 6, and 3 countries for the 12.5 %, 25 %, and 50 % scenarios. Altogether, our results indicate that ivermectin would prevent a substantial number of malaria incidences and save disability-adjusted life years in the majority of SSA. Therefore, an MDA of ivermectin would greatly aid in ongoing malaria control efforts and should be considered strongly as a complementary intervention to current malaria protocols.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2052592
- PAR ID:
- 10627293
- Publisher / Repository:
- KeAi Publishing
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Infectious Disease Modelling
- Volume:
- 10
- Issue:
- 4
- ISSN:
- 2468-0427
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 1229 to 1237
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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