Sub-Saharan African experience of neurosurgical oncology care: challenges and barriers encountered at 7 cancer treatment centers.

Objective: Wide disparities in neurosurgical oncology care and treatment outcomes exist globally despite recent improvements in diagnostics and cancer therapy. To better understand the challenges to neurosurgical oncology care in low-resource settings, the authors collected data on national neurosurgical capacity and hospital diagnostic and treatment capacity across 7 national referral hospitals in 7 countries in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).

Methods: In April 2023, a 42-item self-administered questionnaire was distributed to partner neurosurgeons at the 7 centers via REDCap to provide country- and hospital-level capacity data on neurosurgical oncology care.

Pediatric neurosurgical-oncology scope and management paradigms in Sub-Saharan Africa: a collaboration among 7 referral hospitals on the subcontinent.

Background: Understanding of the epidemiology and biology of pediatric CNS tumors has advanced dramatically over the last decade; however there remains a discrepancy in the understanding of epidemiologic data and clinical capacity between high- and lower-income countries.

Objective: We collected and analyzed hospital-level burden and capacity-oriented data from pediatric neurosurgical oncology units at 7 referral hospitals in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).

Methods: A cross sectional epidemiological survey was conducted using REDCap at the 7 SSA sites, capturing 3-month aggregate data for patients managed over a total of 9 months.