PURPOSE In a dramatic reversal of longstanding trends, cancer now kills more Africans than malaria. Despite Africa’s growing cancer burden, individuals of African descent, notably those residing in Africa, remain drastically under-represented in cancer clinical trials. Two recent summits—the 1st All Africa Clinical Trial Summit and the Operational Strategy for Clinical Trials in Nigeria Summit—convened experts from governments, the private sector, universities, and professional societies to define the barriers to Africa’s participation in multicenter clinical studies and the strategies to eliminate those impedances. METHODS The discussions held during the two clinical trial summits were condensed into a set of 10 recommendations covering five broad categories (funding, regulation, capacity building, Africa-centric approach, and patient engagement). In this article, four programs are presented as examples of how the summits’ recommendations can be put into practice to improve Africa’s ability to attract clinical trials, in particular, cancer clinical trials. RESULTS These example programs all leveraged a multilateral, Africa-driven approach to building Africa’s clinical trial capacity, increasing visibility of Africa’s current clinical trial capabilities and priorities, improving regulatory infrastructure and enforcement on the continent, and optimizing patient and clinician engagement strategies. CONCLUSION The four programs are anticipated to catalyze the involvement of more African health care sites in cancer clinical trials, enroll a greater number of African patients with cancer in those trials, and, ultimately, reverse Africa’s growing cancer incidence and mortality rates. Each program acts as a blueprint for organizations—whether government, academic, or industry—seeking to address the summits’ recommendations and increase Africa’s contributions to and active participation in clinical research.

The Cancer burden in Africa is increasing. Nurses play a pivotal role in health care systems and find themselves in a key position to engage with patients, communities and other health professionals to address disparities in cancer care and work towards achieving cancer control in Africa. The rapidly evolving nature of cancer care requires a highly skilled and specialised oncology nurse to either provide clinical care and/or conduct research to improve evidence-based practice. Although Africa has been slow to respond to the need for trained oncology nurses, much has been done over the past few years. This article aims to provide an update of Oncology nursing education and training in Africa with specific focus on South Africa, Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Zambia and Egypt. Mapping oncology nursing education and training in Africa in 2020, the International Year of the Nurse and the Midwife, provides an opportunity to leverage on the essential roles of the oncology nurse and commit to an agenda that will drive and sustain progress to 2030 and beyond.

PURPOSE In a review of cancer incidence across continents (GLOBOCAN 2012), data sources from Ghana were classified as Frequencies, the lowest classification for inclusion, signifying the worst data quality for inclusion in the analysis. Recognizing this deficiency, the establishment of a population-based cancer registry was proposed as part of a broader cancer control plan. METHODS The registry was examined under the following headings: policy, data source, and administrative structure; external support and training; and definition of geographic coverage. RESULTS The registry was set up based on the Ghana policy document on the strategy for cancer control. The paradigm shift ensured subscription to one data collection software (CanReg 5) in the country. The current approach consists of trained registrars based in the registry who conduct active data abstraction at the departments and units of the hospital and pathologic services. To ensure good governance, an administrative structure was created, including an advisory board, a technical committee, and registry staff. External support for the establishment of the Accra Cancer Registry has come mainly from Stanford University and the African Cancer Registry Network, in collaboration with the University of Ghana. Unlike previous attempts, this registry has a well-defined population made up of nine municipal districts. CONCLUSION The Accra Cancer Registry was established as a result of the lessons learned from failed previous attempts and aim to provide a model for setting up other cancer registries in Ghana. It will eventually be the focal point where all the national data can be collated.

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e19213 Background: Choosing Wisely Africa, builds on Choosing Wisely (CW) in the USA, Canada and India, and aims to identify low-value, unnecessary, or harmful cancer practices that are frequently used on the African continent. Methods: The CWA Task Force was convened by African Organization for Research and Training in Cancer (AORTIC) and included representatives in surgical, medical and radiation oncology, the private and public sectors and patient advocacy group. Consensus was built through a modified Delphi process shortening a long list of practices to a short list then to a final list. Results: Of the 10 practices on the final list, one is a new suggestion, 9 are revisions or adaptations of practices from previous CW campaign lists. One item relates to palliative care, 8 concern treatment, and 1 relates to surveillance. Conclusions: The success of this campaign will be measured by how the list is implemented across sub-Saharan Africa and whether it improves the delivery of high-quality cancer care. [Table: see text]