Connecting research, policy and partnerships for better access to cancer medicines

For many years, global health conversations in sub-Saharan Africa were necessarily shaped by the urgent fight against communicable diseases. That work remains essential. Yet the region is now facing a fast-growing burden of non-communicable diseases, including cancer, and this shift demands the same level of policy attention, scientific rigour and health-system collaboration.

Against this backdrop, my four-week visiting scholar placement at the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp, from 29 June to 24 July 2026, was both timely and deeply valuable. The visit formed part of my doctoral training at the University of the Western Cape School of Public Health and was hosted within ITM's Department of Public Health, with support from the Unit of Pharmaceutical Public Health.

My PhD focuses on barriers and solutions to accessing essential breast cancer medicines in low-resource settings, with a particular focus on Zimbabwe and sub-Saharan Africa. During the visit, I benefited from protected scholarly time and close academic mentorship, which helped accelerate two important parts of the doctoral work. The scoping review advanced from study selection into structured evidence extraction, while the first draft of the policy analysis protocol was completed and shared for review.

The placement also sharpened the policy relevance of the work. Discussions with ITM colleagues helped broaden the analysis beyond medicine availability and affordability alone, towards questions of policy architecture, regulation, procurement, reimbursement, financial protection and implementation. A 360-degree policy discussion with Professor Didier Verhoeven from the University of Antwerp, together with Professor Raffaella Ravinetto and myself, added valuable clinical and global cancer perspectives on essential medicines prioritisation, financial toxicity, pricing, national essential medicines lists and value-based access.