Abstract
Decision makers dealing with resource allocation in Africa have the impression that cancer research is a luxury. As a result of this, very few or no resources are allocated for cancer research in Africa. Since in healthcare, clinical and epidemiological research provides an evidence base for formulation of health policies and facilitates decision making by policy makers, the lack of evidence base makes decision making intuitive. A situation like this is not cost-effective and is unacceptable. It is, therefore, important that for Africa to make effective decisions to improve the health of its population, cancer research informing policy and decision makers is a necessity and not a luxury.
Highlights
The use of research to provide evidence to support the development of cancer-control plans in Africa would appear, at first sight, not to require any justification [1, 2]
The impression that decision makers dealing with resource allocation have is that cancer research is a luxury and not a necessity, very few or no resources are allocated for cancer research in Africa
The Global Forum for Health Research (GFHR) was established as a foundation to support a full spectrum of studies, including biomedical and health systems research as well as ancillary health concerns such as health economics and studies in behavioural/social sciences [4]; the Council on Health Research for Development was established in 1993 to strengthen the research capacity of 52 developing countries [5]
Summary
The use of research to provide evidence to support the development of cancer-control plans in Africa would appear, at first sight, not to require any justification [1, 2]. The estimated health research requirements needed to sustain the public health sector in Africa is conservatively estimated at US$5billion, but only a fraction of this amount is available for research [3].
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
