INTRODUCTION
FOREWORD
DR MARGARET CHAN, DIRECTOR-GENERAL, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION
T
he World Health Organization warmly welcomes this measure the human suffering behind these numbers,
first annual publication on cancer control, with its especially when so much of it is needless? On average, 70% of
laudable aim of improving cancer management in low- cancer patients in developing countries are diagnosed at a
and middle-income countries. The publication deliberately very late stage of illness. For many, the only possible
seeks to apply the world’s best expertise in cancer control, intervention is palliative care. Even this intervention fails to
from renowned research institutes and international groups, reach more than 5 million terminally ill cancer patients
to real conditions and needs in the developing world. It further worldwide each year.
benefits from the frontline experiences of initiatives The scale of the problem is further shaped by an almost total
addressing these needs and finding solutions to seemingly lack of response capacity in so many countries. This is a lack of
intractable problems. capacity for prevention, public education, screening, early
Much can be achieved through such ground-breaking detection and treatment, and data collection. Some 30
collaboration. Much needs to be done. The problem of cancer countries, including 15 in Africa, do not possess even a single
in the developing world is so huge it is difficult to find the right radiation therapy machine. In some African countries, only
way to measure it. 20% of patients survive cancers, such as cervical cancer, that
According to the latest WHO statistics, cancer causes an are highly curable elsewhere in the world.
estimated 7.6 million deaths worldwide each year. Of these It is gratifying to see so many of these challenges being
deaths, 4.8 million, that means more than 60%, are now addressed in what I personally hope will be a long-running
occurring in the developing world. series of annual publications. l
But numbers of deaths do not say enough. How can you
CANCER CONTROL 2013 7