World Cancer Day: Access to primary healthcare key to early detection —WHO

The World Health Organisation has stressed the need to urgently improve cancer services in low-and middle-income countries.

WHO made the call in a statement posted on its website on Tuesday to mark the World Cancer Day on February 4.

WHO warned that the world would see a 60 per cent increase in cancer cases over the next two decades if current trends continue.

It said that the greatest increase which was an estimated 81 per cent in new cases would occur in low-and middle-income countries, where survival rates were currently lowest.

“This is largely because these countries have had to focus limited health resources on combating infectious diseases and improving maternal and child health, while health services are not equipped to prevent, diagnose and treat cancers.

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“In 2019, more than 90 per cent of high-income countries reported that comprehensive treatment services for cancer were available in the public health system compared to less than 15 per cent of low-income countries,” it said.

Dr Ren Minghui, Assistant Director-General, Universal Health Coverage/Communicable and Non-communicable Diseases, WHO, said the disparity was a wake-up call to tackle the unacceptable inequalities between cancer services in rich and poor countries.