Childhood cancer treatments are underfunded: Lancet study shows how millions of children can be saved

A Lancet commission reported that 100,000 children lose their lives every year to cancer. Tragically, the majority of mortality is concentrated in lower and middle-income countries, and up to 80% of the deaths are preventable.  

The commission appealed to global health agencies to include juvenile cancer on the agenda of universal health coverage. Citing a deficiency of robust data on the prevalence of childhood cancer, cost of treatments and coverage of treatment plans and services in developing countries, the researchers set out to analyse the burden of childhood cancer across the globe and highlighted the importance of timely treatment.

What were the findings of the study?

It was estimated that there would be 13.7 million cases of childhood cancer between 2020-2050. Of this, 45% will go undiagnosed and 11.1 million will die if no further investments in interventions are made. The vast majority, almost 85%, will be concentrated in developing countries.

What is the scope of intervention plans?

Encouragingly, a comprehensive scale-up of interventions can prevent more than half (56.1%) of these deaths. The question then becomes if this is economically feasible - if developing countries with limited resources can afford these interventions.  

The researchers used the concept of productive years lost to illustrate the benefits of investing in these interventions. The reduction in deaths would translate to 318 million life-years. All these lives saved would contribute USD 2580 billion to the world economy between 2020-2050. This dwarfs the cumulative treatment costs of $594 billion; every $1 that is invested in these children has a return of $3 for the global economy.

What do these findings suggest?

Using this statistical model, the researchers dispel the doubts of those who think investments in childhood cancer are not cost-effective. The researchers appeal for childhood cancer to become a part of the universal healthcare agenda given the massive benefits it entails.

For more information, read our article on   Cancer _._

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