One in five persons are diagnosed with cancer during their lifetime, the World Health Organisation said.
According to the global health body, nearly every family globally is affected by cancer, either directly or as caregivers or family-members.
“A cancer diagnosis triggers a broad and profound effect on the health and well-being of all those involved,” it said.
Meanwhile, the WHO launched the first global survey recently to better understand and address the needs of all those affected by cancer.
The survey is part of a broader campaign, designed with and intended to amplify the voices of those affected by cancer – survivors, caregivers and the bereaved – as part of WHO’s Framework for Meaningful Engagement of People Living with Noncommunicable diseases.
The Framework is a commitment to respectfully and meaningfully engage PLWNCDs in co-designing policies, programmes, and solutions. The survey results will feed into the design of policies and programmes to offer better well-being in the context of a cancer diagnosis and co-create solutions for the future.
“For too long, the focus in cancer control has been on clinical care and not on the broader needs of people affected by cancer,” said Director-General of the WHO, Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus. “Global cancer policies must be shaped by more than data and scientific research, to include the voices and insight of people impacted by the disease.”
According to the WHO, recent studies have shown that nearly half of people diagnosed with cancer experience anxiety and loss of faith and may be abandoned by their intimate partners. In low- and middle-income countries, financial hardship and loss of assets can be experienced by 70 per cent or more of those affected.
“When my daughter was diagnosed with cancer, our lives changed drastically and in ways that we did not expect. The effects of cancer last a lifetime,” said Ruth Hoffman, President of the American Childhood Cancer Organisation.
