Researchers have indicated striking disparities in the cost and availability of cancer drugs across different regions of the globe, with significant gaps between high- and low-income countries.
The findings published in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, indicated that inequity in access to therapy, lack of proper screening, persistent carcinogenic risk factors, and inadequate healthcare infrastructure are major contributors to the significant global disparities in cancer care across different countries.
The analysis, which drew on relevant published studies and reviews related to cancer and the availability of cancer treatments, predicts that there will be an estimated 28.4 million new cancer cases worldwide in 2040 alone.
In the coming years, cancer incidence is expected to increase most significantly in low-income countries. Cancer mortality rates are also increasing in low-income countries, whereas they have levelled off in developed countries.
Research indicates that inequity in access to therapy, lack of proper screening, persistent carcinogenic risk factors, and inadequate healthcare infrastructure are major contributors to the higher cancer incidence and cancer-related mortality rates observed in low-income countries compared with high-income countries.
Also, clinicians’ current understanding of cancer and its optimal treatment is primarily based on research conducted in high-income countries, whose residents may differ from individuals in middle- and low-income countries.
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Studies reveal that economics can be a major challenge for optimal cancer care around the world. Newer cancer drugs, such as immunotherapy medications, can cost thousands of dollars more per year than standard chemotherapy.
Also, low-income countries spend less of their total gross domestic product on cancer care than high-income countries, yet they often must pay more for the same essential cancer drugs.
Senior author Fadlo R. Khuri, MD, of the American University of Beirut Medical Centre, in Lebanon, in a reaction, said cancer incidence and mortality are on the rise globally and are expected to disproportionately affect people in low- and middle-income countries, despite far more restrictions in access to newer cancer therapeutics in low- and middle-income countries due to prohibitive costs.
He added, “In this paper, we analyse the data and propose a few solutions that could help alleviate these worsening disparities—including the use of quality generics and biosimilars and the implementation of universal healthcare coverage and international medical funding.”