Cancer 'a top health expenditure area, despite advances'
DOHA, September 22, 2015
Despite outstanding progress made in cancer research and advances in patient treatment, the disease is one of the top three areas of health expenditure and cancer care is too expensive for most patients and nearly all governements, according to a report.
The WISH report, entitled 'Delivering Affordable Cancer Care: A Value Challenge to Health Systems,' was presented by the World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH), a global initiative of Qatar Foundation for education, science and community development (QF), to Australian Members of Parliament (MPs) in Canberra last week.
It aims at bringing to the forefront best healthcare practices while inspiring innovation and discussion, remaining closely aligned to the vision and mission of QF to unlock human potential and transform Qatar into a knowledge-based economy.
The trip to Australia came in a bid to reinforce Qatar’s pioneering role as an emerging centre for healthcare innovation and generate discussion on how to overcome the world’s most urgent healthcare challenges.
Encouraging the international community to take action will place Qatar at the forefront of the discussion and will mean that the nation, where statistics have shown cancer is the third most common cause of death, will be able to reap the benefits of vital developments.
Professor Robert J S Thomas, OAM chief cancer advisor, Victorian Government, Australia, led last week’s discussions on the report with 100 Australian lawmakers.
The burden of cancer will intensify with new cancer diagnoses expected to increase by around 16–32 per cent over the next 10 years, the report predicted.
From 2008 to 2030, cancer cases would rise by 65 per cent in high-income countries, 80 per cent in middle-income countries and 100 per cent in the world’s poorest countries, it said.
The Australian policymakers were informed of the report’s policies to counteract excess spending and a number of innovative projects from around the world were raised to demonstrate how efficiencies could be driven and treatments improved for patients.
QF’s health policy research, once again, served to inform the decisions of policymakers globally, and following the recent forum, Australia is set to implement some of the key changes recommended in the research, including the ‘Data Analysis of Optimum Care Pathways’, a key recommendation of the WISH report.
Egbert Schillings, WISH's chief executive officer, said: “WISH is delighted to work with forum chair prof Thomas to carry the message of the report with clarity and conviction to the highest levels of policy leadership around the globe.
“Pathway analysis along the entire patient journey in cancer, from prevention, screening, and diagnosis, to treatment and follow-up, will provide real impetus to innovative cost and quality management, for the benefit of the patient population and the system as a whole.” - TradeArabia News Service
