The burden of cancer in Asia-Pacific

Den första delrapporten i rapportserien om cancer och cancerläkemedel i Asien och Stillahavsområdet beskriver sjukdomsbördan av cancer.

It describes the disease burden of cancer in 14 countries and locations (called “markets” in the report) in Asia-Pacific. They are grouped into 7 high-income markets (Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan) and 7 middle-income markets (China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam).

The sub-report provides a comparative analysis of the 14 markets. The main findings are:

1. Cancer is currently the leading cause of death in most high-income markets. It will increasingly become a major public health issue in middle-income markets based on current trajectories and experiences from other regions of the world.

2. The number of newly diagnosed cancer cases has increased from 6.6 million to 7.8 million between 2012 and 2018 in Asia-Pacific. A key driver in this development is population aging, which is taking place at an unprecedented rate across the region.

3. Outcomes of cancer patients differ greatly across Asia-Pacific. For every 100 patients diagnosed with cancer, around 50-65 of them survive in high-income markets as compared to 30-40 in middle-income markets. Recent developments also indicate that the situation for cancer patients in high-income markets continues to improve, while patient outcomes in middle-income markets are at best stagnating.

4. Predictions of the future cancer burden indicate increases in the number of newly diagnosed cases and deaths by around 50-60% until 2040 across Asia-Pacific.

5. Advances and investments in all areas of cancer care – prevention, screening, diagnosis, treatment – are needed to meet the challenges brought upon by the demographic development.

6. A clear prioritization of effective and comprehensive cancer control efforts could spare millions of people from getting cancer and simultaneously improve the lives of the millions of cancer patients over the coming decades. To this end, the WHO advocates National Cancer Control Programs (NCCP) to tackle cancer in a strategic way.

Merck Sharp & Dohme (MSD) har bidragit med finansiering av denna rapport. Det är författarna ensamma som svarar för analys, tolkningar och rapportens innehåll.

Alla rapporterna i denna serie finns under IHE Report 2021:3 (main report)

För frågor om studien kontakta Thomas Hofmarcher

IHE Report 2021:3c, IHE: Lund, Sweden