REFRAMING ZAMBIA’S CANCER CARE CONTINUUM: INTEGRATING
REHABILITATION AND SURVIVORSHIP INTO NATIONAL
CANCER CONTROL
Davie Mulenga, VOlaere Thelma Tari, Rebecca J. Selove, Aarushi Parmar, Nikhat. Mansoori, Alice Hazemba, Jean M. Hunleth
Vol.9 issue 3 (2026), pag. 107 - 111
| Received | 28/5/2026 |
| Accepted | 23/7/2026 |
| Published | 8/09/2026 |
| Review by | Single-blind |
| doi | https://doi.org/10.48252/JCR140 |
ABSTRACT
Cancer survivorship is increasing across sub-Saharan Africa, yet
rehabilitation and survivorship care remain poorly integrated within cancer
control systems. In Zambia, recent mapping of the national cancer research
landscape revealed concentration of research within prevention, diagnosis,
treatment, and palliative care, while rehabilitation was largely absent. This
omission reflects a broader limitation within the cancer care continuum itself,
where rehabilitation is not formally recognized as a cross-cutting component
of care. We argue that a continuum ending at palliative care is increasingly
inadequate in settings where survivorship is improving and functional
recovery needs persistent attention across all stages of cancer care. Drawing
on Zambia’s National Rehabilitation Strategic Plan and emerging evidence
from community-based rehabilitation models, this communication proposes
five priority actions: integrating rehabilitation across the cancer continuum,
adapting community health worker-led rehabilitation approaches,
prioritizing implementation research, strengthening multidisciplinary
rehabilitation capacity, and establishing rehabilitation needs registries.
Embedding rehabilitation within cancer systems is essential for equitable
survivorship care, health system strengthening and progress toward universal
health coverage in Zambia and similar low-resource settings