Dr Zainab Shinkafi-Bagudu, who has been elected as the first African president of the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC), stated that cancer is tripling and will continue to increase.
She added that the people most affected by it are those in the Global South, and is therefore calling for urgent action to eliminate the gaps in care, research and financing between low- and high-income countries.
On Thursday, alongside the World Cancer Congress 2026 in Hong Kong, Dr Zainab sat with a few international journalists, including the Dhaka Tribune Chief Reporter, and shared her vision for UICC over the next two years.
She said it was certainly an honour to be the first African elected UICC president and that it reflected the inadequate cancer care available across the spectrum in Africa and other low- and middle-income countries.
It shows that people are aware of this and that stakeholders know action is needed.
Dr Zainab, a paediatrician from Nigeria with 30 years of clinical experience, established the Medicaid Cancer Foundation and served as First Lady of Kebbi State from 2015 to 2023, during which time she promoted cancer control programs and HPV vaccination campaigns.
She served on the UICC board for six years and will take on the role of president in October 2026 for the 2026–2028 term.
“I have this opportunity to be able to bring forth a lot of the problems that the low- and middle-income countries are facing to the Global North, and act as a bridge to tap into the innovations and the new technology that we’re seeing every day in cancer control,” she said, aiming her focus as a bridge between the Global North and the South.
She said new drugs, improved diagnostic techniques, artificial intelligence, and better palliative care methods were areas where LMICs could benefit.
Pointing out the difference in the kind of care provided, she said: “A few days ago the entire UK was busy with efforts to pass a law concerning the ending of life. For us in Africa, particularly in Nigeria, that situation has not yet been reached, but we are dealing with a large number of patients at the end of life who need to have more dignity.”
Although the UICC is already carrying out global campaigns concerning breast, cervical and lung cancers, Dr Zainab indicated that childhood cancers and liver cancer associated with hepatitis B and C will be her personal priorities.
She said that she had a great deal of interest in childhood cancers as well as liver cancer.
“There is no global effort concerned with hepatitis; it starts off as hepatitis, the disease, then becomes chronic and then turns cancerous. That is why I would like to use this opportunity to get it noticed globally,” Said Zainab.
She pointed out that hepatitis viruses are uniquely resilient in that if you leave HIV in this place, it will be dead after about five minutes, but if you leave hepatitis here, it goes into a state of dormancy and, ten years later, if the right conditions are provided, it becomes active.
Zainab mentioned that there are currently 20 million people worldwide who have hepatitis and die from liver cancer as a result of the disease progressing slowly.
On financing, she admitted there are global cutbacks but highlighted the new Global Cancer Financing Platform, which aims to harness diaspora remittances and lower tax barriers.
She stated that most of the money that flows into cancer is spent on research, as cancer has never directly benefited from global funding for treatment.
“If we are advocating with the government for insurance to cover all of these things, it’s the same thing; my aim is to reduce the financial toxicity for the woman in the village.”
When asked about environmental factors, she linked climate change, pollution, and chemical-heavy food production to rising cancer risks.
“Climate change and environmental pollution are also having an impact on the food we eat. Since we need so much food to meet the demands of the growing world population, we have resorted to using greater quantities of chemicals. This has consequences; we are aware of them. Just how much, however, we do not know,” Said Zainab.
She asked for greater cooperation with civil society to bring these connections to light and campaign for policy changes.
Because of her time as First Lady, she said global forums, such as the UNGA and the World Cancer Congress, focus on storytelling that leads to solutions.
She said that you don’t attend the UNGA in order to pick up a bag of cash and take it home, whereas what you go there for is to tell your story, and it is the way in which you tell it that will make sure the solution is also heard, showing enthusiasm about the coming days in her capacity as a policymaker.
Since the next UICC meeting will take place in Kenya, she said the continent is already attracting young researchers through fellowships and partnerships.
Dr Zainab is succeeding current president Ulrika Årehed Kågström in October, becoming the first African to lead the almost 100-year-old Geneva-based UICC.
