NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

This year more than half of the nearly 13 million new cancer cases diagnosed worldwide and two-thirds of cancer deaths will occur in the world’s low and middle income countries (LMICs). Nearly a third of these deaths could have been prevented with the knowledge and technology already available today. For example, only 10% of children diagnosed with leukemia in the 25 poorest countries of the world will survive compared to 90% of children diagnosed with leukemia in Canada.

The disease burden in developing nations is growing. Caused by an inequity in health, healthcare and resulting disease, the disparities across the cancer care continuum found between rich and poor countries remain largely unaddressed. The cancer divide is the result of these disparities — explained in the report of the Global Task Force on Expanded Access to Cancer Care and Control in Developing Countries-GTF.CCC and in the book Closing the Cancer Divide: An Equity Imperative.