WHO report on cancer: Setting priorities, investing wisely and providing care for all

Cancer is a serious health problem in all populations, regardless of wealth or social status. The global response to cancer has been uneven and inequitable. Most low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) started later to address the cancer burden, having made hard choices to concentrate limited resources on an enormous burden of infectious diseases. In 2020, when one in five people globally will face a cancer diagnosis during their lifetime and as gains against infections and other conditions have led to increased life expectancy, it is beyond time to accelerate global cancer control, through prevention, diagnosis, treatment and management, palliative care and surveillance. Every year, effective cancer control is delayed, the response becomes more expensive, the preventable loss of life increases, and economic and human development remain stifled.
Whatever a country's current stage of cancer control, the next steps can be informed by validated analytical tools, guiding principles, examples and global assistance. This report introduces the principles, tools and current priorities in cancer control. It also presents new evidence of the value of cancer control as an investment, with substantial human and economic returns. The burden of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) now outweighs the burden of infectious diseases in every country and will continue to grow over the coming decades. The urgency of the NCD problem led to adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and their target 3.4: "By 2030, reduce by one third premature mortality from NCD through prevention and treatment and promote mental health and well-being." Universal health coverage (UHC) is a related SDG target (3.8). The cancer control interventions described in this report can be melded into UHC benefit packages to drive progress in meeting both targets. Let it be clear, without substantial - perhaps monumental - efforts in cancer control, these targets cannot be met.