Lessons learned from the support of the International Atomic Energy Agency, International Agency for Research on Cancer and World Health Organization to develop National Cancer Control Plans in low- and middle-income countries.

[BACKGROUND] The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) and World Health Organization (WHO) assist countries in building and strengthening their cancer control capacity. This support includes guidance to Member States to set priorities for national cancer control through the development and implementation of National Cancer Control Plans (NCCPs). Our aim was to identify the lessons learned from the support United Nations (UN) agencies provide to develop NCCPs in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) to support the development of guidance.

[METHODS] We developed a questionnaire based on a review of the NCCP literature and conducted semi-structured interviews with 11 Member States that received UN agency support between 2020 and 2023 and five IAEA Programme Officers who coordinated UN support. We coded the transcripts inductively and performed a thematic analysis of the data.

[RESULTS] Three main themes were identified, each with their own barriers and enablers to develop NCCPs: coordination of NCCP development; method; and governance. We discuss each of these challenges and offer recommendations for Member States and UN agencies to further improve the development process of national cancer control strategies. We selected Kenya as a case study to show an example of good practice.

[CONCLUSION] This paper complements a sister study conducted by the International Cancer Control Partnership which assessed challenges of developing NCCPs for countries that received a different type of support. Both studies contribute to the growing body of NCCP literature following the 2025 global review of NCCPs.

[POLICY SUMMARY] The lessons learned from the IAEA-IARC-WHO support to develop NCCPs will inform policies, programmes and practices in cancer control planning and implementation in LMICs, as well as the development of a common methodology for UN agencies to provide NCCP support.