Cancer numbers are growing and, at the same time, the economic burden of treatments on health systems: in 2050, over 35 million new cases are estimated, +77% compared to 2022, and the WHO regional director for Europe, Henri P Kluge, issues a warning: "Do not cut European health budgets".
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According to the latest estimates published by the WHO and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), on the occasion of World Cancer Day which is celebrated on 4 February, in 2022 there were an estimated 20 million new cases of cancer and 9.7 million deaths globally, with 53.5 million people alive 5 years after diagnosis.
This trend reflects both the aging and growth of the population and new risk factors such as socioeconomic ones.
The main risk factors for cancer remain tobacco, alcohol and obesity, but air pollution also plays a role.
"New data from the International Agency for Research on Cancer reveals that the WHO European Region - warns Kluge - will see a 38% increase in new cancer cases by 2045. The deadliest cancers for men in our region are those of the lung, colorectal and prostate, while women die more often from breast, lung or colorectal cancers."
“Worryingly,” however, he points out, “our analysis finds that cancer is more deadly in low- and middle-income countries than in high-income countries, highlighting the many health inequalities that still persist.”
"At a time when health financing is increasingly under pressure across Europe - notes the WHO regional director - we risk undoing decades of progress aimed at improving the health and well-being of millions of people. Given that in the European region 1 one person in 4 risks developing cancer in their lifetime, this is not the time to cut the EU's health budget."
Diagnosis, treatment and survival "should not depend on where you were born or how much you earn. Defeating cancer must be a society-wide commitment. As we emerge from the Covid-19 pandemic, my message to everyone, politicians and citizens - he concludes - is that we need more health, not less".
Video Tumors, Perrone (Aiom): 'Probability and treatments, the level of education weighs'
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