Pediatric cancer specialists, researchers, and policymakers from across the world gathered in Lagos for a landmark international conference on childhood cancer in Africa, issuing a united call for urgent, coordinated action to close a deeply troubling survival gap that continues to cost thousands of young lives annually across the continent.
The 16th Biennial Congress of the International Society of Pediatric Oncology Africa, co-hosted by The Dorcas Cancer Foundation and the Nigerian Society of Pediatric Oncology, provided a week-long platform for examining how emerging technologies including artificial intelligence could enhance early diagnosis, improve treatment delivery, and strengthen monitoring of patient outcomes.
Conference Scientific Committee Chair and Dorcas Cancer Foundation founder Adedayo Joseph described the survival disparity between Africa and high-income countries as stark and morally unacceptable. While survival rates exceeded 90 percent in developed nations, they ranged from only 20 to 30 percent in many low and middle income countries, including Nigeria.
She disclosed that a new diagnostic technology discussed at the conference had the potential to compress diagnosis timelines from several weeks to just 48 hours, and that partners from the United States had committed to making the technology accessible to at least 2,000 Nigerian children. She also confirmed that Nigeria had joined the World Health Organisation Global Initiative for Childhood Cancer, following the launch of a new National Cancer Control Plan that gave pediatric oncology increased policy visibility.
“Children can be cured of cancer if they have access to quality medicines, radiation, and surgery. Every child that is saved means that they will have 40 to 60 years of life given back to the community and the economy,” she said.
Nigeria Society of Pediatric Oncology President Adeseye Akinsete said the conference enabled meaningful conversations about improving access to medicines, expanding care infrastructure, and generating Africa-specific clinical data to guide treatment decisions that reflected continental realities rather than protocols designed for different health contexts.
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital Director for Sub-Saharan Africa Nickhill Bhakta acknowledged measurable progress driven by growing global collaboration but stressed that access to treatment remained deeply uneven. He described the economic case for treating childhood cancer as compelling, arguing that saving a child returned 40 to 60 years of productive life to society at returns many times the initial cost of treatment.
University of Cape Town radiation oncologist Jeannette Parkes identified limited access to essential medicines and radiotherapy as the most significant barriers to progress, warning that installing equipment without the trained personnel, maintenance contracts, and functional infrastructure to support it would render even the most advanced technology unusable. She highlighted artificial intelligence as a potential tool for bridging expertise gaps in radiotherapy while stressing that a holistic approach spanning diagnosis, treatment, and long-term care was essential to meaningful progress.
