Exploring barriers to lung cancer patient access, diagnosis, referral and treatment in Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa: the health providers’ perspectives

Every year, far too many lives across the globe are cut short by chronic diseases, such as heart disease, stroke, cancer, chronic respiratory diseases and diabetes (1). While this phenomenon was previously common in high income countries (HICs), low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) have also become the victims of chronic diseases (2). In LMICs, cancer and other non-infectious diseases, have particularly received less public attention, as a result of being historically given low priority by governments and funding agencies (3,4). However, LMICs are currently faced with a double disease burden from infectious diseases and non-communicable diseases (NCDs) (5) and this poses a unique challenge for priority setting in health systems that are already resource strapped