The findings show that the use of low-quality cancer medicines is not only failing patients but also wasting limited public health resources and complicating treatment outcomes.
The study, published in The Lancet Global Health, analysed 251 samples of seven cancer medications collected from hospitals and pharmacies in Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, and Cameroon. Between 14% and 24% of the samples failed to meet accepted quality standards, with some containing dangerously low levels of active ingredients, rendering them ineffective for treating cancer.
With treatment plans built around assumptions that drugs will perform as intended, health systems are unknowingly forced to compensate for failed therapies through extended hospital stays, additional interventions, or re-treatment, all of which come at a high cost in settings where medical budgets are already thin and oncology infrastructure is limited.
Furthermore, the study revealed that nearly a quarter of medicines tested were expired, and that commonly used visual inspections detected fewer than 10% of poor-quality drugs. This means frontline health workers often have no reliable way of identifying compromised medications before administering them to patients.
The hidden nature of the problem makes it especially dangerous. While drug shortages and infrastructure challenges are visible, the silent circulation of ineffective or harmful treatments undermines the overall impact of cancer programmes and may contribute to higher mortality rates without clear cause.
Researchers are calling for practical interventions such as low-cost testing technologies at the point of care, improved drug tracking systems, and increased investment in regulatory capacity to protect both patients and the fragile health systems meant to serve them.
As cancer cases rise across Africa, the study warns that unless this hidden threat is urgently addressed, the region’s already limited cancer care systems will continue to absorb the cost, both financially and in human lives.
--ChannelAfrica--
