TY - JOUR
T1 - Expansion of cancer care and control in countries of low and middle income
T2 - A call to action
AU - Farmer, Paul
AU - Frenk, Julio
AU - Knaul, Felicia M.
AU - Shulman, Lawrence N.
AU - Alleyne, George
AU - Armstrong, Lance
AU - Atun, Rifat
AU - Blayney, Douglas
AU - Chen, Lincoln
AU - Feachem, Richard
AU - Gospodarowicz, Mary
AU - Gralow, Julie
AU - Gupta, Sanjay
AU - Langer, Ana
AU - Lob-Levyt, Julian
AU - Neal, Claire
AU - Mbewu, Anthony
AU - Mired, Dina
AU - Piot, Peter
AU - Reddy, K. Srinath
AU - Sachs, Jeffrey D.
AU - Sarhan, Mahmoud
AU - Seffrin, John R.
N1 - Funding Information:
PF, JF, LNS, GA, LA, DW, LC, RF, AL, CN, AM, DM, PP, KSR, JDS, MS, and JRS declare that they have no conflicts of interest. FMK is associated with a non-profit programme in Mexico (Tómatelo a Pecho) to promote early detection of breast cancer; receives honoraria from the Mexican Health Foundation, which has submitted research grant applications to GlaxoSmithKline and Roche; and has been nominated to become a board member (unpaid) for the International Union Against Cancer. MG serves as a board member (unpaid) for the International Union Against Cancer. JG's institution has received grants from Genentech, Sanofi-Aventis, Roche, Amgen, and Novartis. SG is a board member of non-profit organisation LIVESTRONG, a staff member of Emory Clinic Department of Neurosurgery, chief medical correspondent for CNN, and a medical contributor to CBS and Time Magazine.
PY - 2010/10/2
Y1 - 2010/10/2
N2 - Substantial inequalities exist in cancer survival rates across countries. In addition to prevention of new cancers by reduction of risk factors, strategies are needed to close the gap between developed and developing countries in cancer survival and the effects of the disease on human suffering. We challenge the public health community's assumption that cancers will remain untreated in poor countries, and note the analogy to similarly unfounded arguments from more than a decade ago against provision of HIV treatment. In resource-constrained countries without specialised services, experience has shown that much can be done to prevent and treat cancer by deployment of primary and secondary caregivers, use of off-patent drugs, and application of regional and global mechanisms for financing and procurement. Furthermore, several middle-income countries have included cancer treatment in national health insurance coverage with a focus on people living in poverty. These strategies can reduce costs, increase access to health services, and strengthen health systems to meet the challenge of cancer and other diseases. In 2009, we formed the Global Task Force on Expanded Access to Cancer Care and Control in Developing Countries, which is composed of leaders from the global health and cancer care communities, and is dedicated to proposal, implementation, and evaluation of strategies to advance this agenda.
AB - Substantial inequalities exist in cancer survival rates across countries. In addition to prevention of new cancers by reduction of risk factors, strategies are needed to close the gap between developed and developing countries in cancer survival and the effects of the disease on human suffering. We challenge the public health community's assumption that cancers will remain untreated in poor countries, and note the analogy to similarly unfounded arguments from more than a decade ago against provision of HIV treatment. In resource-constrained countries without specialised services, experience has shown that much can be done to prevent and treat cancer by deployment of primary and secondary caregivers, use of off-patent drugs, and application of regional and global mechanisms for financing and procurement. Furthermore, several middle-income countries have included cancer treatment in national health insurance coverage with a focus on people living in poverty. These strategies can reduce costs, increase access to health services, and strengthen health systems to meet the challenge of cancer and other diseases. In 2009, we formed the Global Task Force on Expanded Access to Cancer Care and Control in Developing Countries, which is composed of leaders from the global health and cancer care communities, and is dedicated to proposal, implementation, and evaluation of strategies to advance this agenda.
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U2 - 10.1016/S0140-6736(10)61152-X
DO - 10.1016/S0140-6736(10)61152-X
M3 - Comment/debate
C2 - 20709386
AN - SCOPUS:77957664584
VL - 376
SP - 1186
EP - 1193
JO - The Lancet
JF - The Lancet
SN - 0140-6736
IS - 9747
ER -