The leader of the global breast cancer movement today warned of a coming wave of cancer deaths and told global health ministers to be “fearless and united” in addressing the growing cancer crisis, particularly in developing countries.
“Cancer takes more lives every year than tuberculosis, malaria and HIV/AIDS combined,” said Ambassador Nancy G. Brinker, founding chair of Susan G. Komen for the Cure and a World Health Organization Goodwill Ambassador for Cancer Control. “Now is the time to focus our attention on this global fight,” she told world health ministers gathered for the opening session of the United Nations General Assembly.
Brinker proposed that the world’s health ministers integrate cancer screening and treatment under existing health programs in developing countries, which would dramatically improve women’s and maternal health.
The rising wave of cancer worldwide is expected to double by the year 2030 – killing some 17 million people every year. The devastation will be felt most by the nations now least equipped to deal with it, she said. For example:
- More than 60 percent of all cancer deaths occur in developing countries, yet only 5 percent of global resources for cancer are spent in the developing world.
- By 2030, developing countries will bear approximately 70 percent of global cancer deaths.
- But 40 percent of these cancer deaths are preventable now – a percentage that should only improve as the science advances. And a substantial number of cancers are successfully treatable.
Many countries don’t have reliable statistics for cancer cases in their countries, but those that do offer some explanation for why cancer deaths are growing in the developing world. Many of the diets and lifestyle habits blamed for the rise in cancer in wealthier nations (tobacco use and unhealthy diets) are now making their way into the developing world.
In addition, success in fighting other diseases has extended more lives into the “cancer demographic,” that is, older women and men. Still, “cancer victims in many countries are unscreened, undiagnosed, and untreated right up until the end – without so much as pain management. In the statistical equivalent of an unmarked grave, the cause of their suffering and death isn’t even specified,” Brinker said.
Brinker said nations can address this growing crisis today, particularly for women and without considerable additional expense, simply by including cancer screening and treatment in health programs already underway in HIV/AIDS clinics and government-run health centers, citing cervical cancer as one example.