Fight against cancer

A report by WHO points out inequalities between cancer services in rich and poor countries

A new report by the World Health Organization (WHO), whose release coincides with the World Cancer Day on February 4, has pointed out inequalities between cancer services in rich and poor countries. It is just because of a lack of investment in prevention and care that the cases of cancer in low- and middle-income countries would rise by 81% by 2040 as against an overall 60% across the world, according to the WHO report. In what further stresses on the role of money to deal with the fatal disease, WHO experts say that better cancer treatment in high-income countries has resulted in a 20% drop in mortality rate between 2000 and 2015; and in comparison, the reduction in poorer countries remains only 5%.

Though not specifically mentioned in the WHO report, Pakistan is understood to figure among the low- and middle-income countries ill-equipped to put up a fight against cancer. Lack of primary care and referral system in the country — mainly due to paucity of funds — is what makes early detection of cancer difficult, and thus the battle against the disease tougher. Let alone the rural parts of the country, many an urban centre lacks proper facilities to treat the deadly disease. Patients in far-flung areas are the worst suffers. A recent news report on the plight of cancer patients in Balochistan, where there is no cancer-treating facility, is a serious case in point.

The WHO report, meanwhile, points out that one in five people worldwide would face a cancer diagnosis in their lifetime, and this makes the disease a global burden. It, however, indicates that controlling cancer is not too costly an affair, and an investment of $25 billion over the next decade could save seven million lives from cancer. This is where the report puts onus on the role of affluent countries of the world in the fight against cancer.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 7^th, 2020.

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