Dr Abubakar Bello talks to ecancer about Cancer Centres In Africa: Current Status & Future Directions.

He begins by explaining that cancer care can only be effective in robust comprehensive cancer centres and one of the key things is to develop capacity, develop infrastructures and engage the ministries of health across Sub-Saharan Africa. To improve on this AORTIC have started a legion of researchers and scientists across Sub-Saharan Africa, America, Europe and India for mentorship.

Dr Bello then goes on to say that AORTIC plan on taking this agenda to the African Union (AU) Ministers of Health to look at some of the key points that have been raised with the aim of having a comprehensive cancer centre in each African country. Dr Bello states that, currently, 22 out of 54 African countries have no radiotherapy machines.

He concludes by saying that AORTIC have keyed in the African Cancer Coalition, a body that develops guidelines for the treatment of cancer in Sub-Saharan Africa, to help tailor guidelines. About 84 guidelines have been developed so far with the help of the American Cancer Society (ACS) and the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN).