Cancer exerts a growing global health challenge, prompting increased focus to strengthen health systems and implement national cancer control plans. Population-based cancer registries (PBCR) are essential to these efforts yet those of high-quality are established in fewer than one in three countries worldwide. To address this critical gap, the Global Initiative for Cancer Registry Development (GICR) was launched in 2012 by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) as the first coordinated global programme dedicated to cancer surveillance. Overall, GICR activities span 168 countries, covering over 85% of the global population. Operating as a global implementation and capacity-building programme, it provides technical guidance, training, and support to low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) through a decentralized model anchored by IARC-designated Regional Hubs and Centres of Expertise. In the period 2012 – 2025, the GICR has held close to 200 courses, training approximately 5 000 individuals, and conducted 209 site visits resulting in the provision of consultancy recommendations to over 100 countries. It has also advanced electronic data capture through tools such as the DHIS2 Cancer Module and promoted innovations in education, including online learning and a roster of regional trainers. Despite substantial progress, challenges remain, including limited and sustainable financing, evolving data privacy requirements, and the need for stronger integration of cancer registration within national cancer control programmes. The GICR has demonstrated a scalable approach to strengthening cancer surveillance capacity, supporting evidence-based cancer control and contributing to broader efforts to improve health information systems in low- and middle-income countries.
This article is forthcoming in The Lancet Oncology.