The Cancer Stigma Study is aimed at exploring the attitudes and beliefs about cancer held by cancer patients and the community around them. Cancer stigma is a huge barrier to treatment and while many studies have been done around the subject, few have been carried out in low- resourced settings. Additionally, fewer intervention studies on cancer stigma have been carried out in Africa, and that is the gap findings from this study will fill. The ultimate goal of this study is to create a stigma reduction intervention for low-resourced communities.

Cancer stigma is an important area of study for Africa because of the rising prevalence of cancer in the continent. 70% of all global cancer deaths originate from Africa, and some of the top culprits, which can be linked to cancer stigma, are late presentation and discontinued treatment.