Poor Cancer Prevention and Detection In Zimbabwe

By Kenyon Chipman

Published Winter 2025

Special thanks to Jackie Durfey for editing and research contributions.

Viewpoints published by Ballard Brief are not necessarily endorsed by BYU or The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Summary+

In the wake of the AIDS/HIV epidemic, rates of non-communicable diseases such as cancer have increased. Although AIDS/HIV and other cancer-associated communicable diseases like HPV are on the decline, these diseases have laid the foundation for the rising cancer epidemic in Sub-Saharan Africa. While infectious diseases remain major contributors to the development of cancer, poor prevention and detection of cancer acts as the central catalyst in the nation’s inflated morbidity and mortality rate. A general lack of knowledge about the basics of cancer for both patients and health professionals, along with the barriers to preventative and detective resources and services, are the main contributors to poor prevention and detection rates. Ultimately, insufficient prevention and detection efforts lead patients to receive a late diagnosis of the disease, leaving them to navigate a complicated, expensive, and uncoordinated health care system, which can have lasting negative effects on patients and their families. The most effective way to decrease the amount of avoidable cancer deaths in Zimbabwe and in other Sub-Saharan African nations will come through building partnerships between various organizations to train local health professionals, coordinating nationwide vaccinations, and implementing upscale preventative and detective projects.

Key Terms+

Chemotherapy—a type of cancer treatment that uses drugs to kill cancer cells.

Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)—a virus that attacks the body’s immune system. If HIV is not treated, it can lead to AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome)

Human Papillomavirus (HPV)— the most common sexually transmitted infection. HPV is usually harmless and goes away by itself, but some types can lead to cancer or genital warts.

Oncology—a branch of medicine that specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. It includes medical oncology (the use of chemotherapy, hormone therapy, and other drugs to treat cancer), radiation oncology (the use of radiation therapy to treat cancer), and surgical oncology (the use of surgery and other procedures to treat cancer).

Palliative Care—specialized medical care that focuses on providing relief from pain and other symptoms of a serious illness. It does not treat what is causing the problem, but its side effects.

Radiotherapy—cancer treatment that uses high doses of radiation to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors. Internal radiotherapy is when the radiation source is put inside one’s body, whereas external radiotherapy requires a specialized machine. Radiation therapy does not kill cancer cells right away; days or weeks of treatment may be needed before DNA is damaged enough for cancer cells to die.

Stages of Cancer—a way of describing the size of a cancer and how far it has grown. Stage 1 means that a cancer is small and contained within the organ it started in. Stage 2 usually means that the tumor is larger than in stage 1, but the cancer hasn’t started to spread into the surrounding tissues. Stage 3 usually means the cancer has grown to a certain size (depending on the cancer type), possibly has started to spread into surrounding tissues, and infected nearby lymph nodes. Stage 4 means the cancer has spread from where it started to another body organ, such as the liver or lung. This is also called secondary or metastatic cancer.

Sub-Saharan Africa—the term used to describe the area of the African continent that lies south of the Sahara Desert.

The full brief is currently being finalized and will be published shortly. Stay tuned for updates!