Closing the Cancer Care Gap

This World Cancer Day, advocates around the world are working together to close that gap.

In fact, this year kicks off a three-year campaign aimed at reducing the inequities in access to cancer care and treatment for populations across the globe. This year’s theme: realizing the problem.

This phase of the campaign focuses on identifying the different inequities that exist in cancer care and access to treatment around the globe. As advocates can attest, challenges vary significantly.  Barriers include gender norms and discrimination, poverty and socioeconomic status, the rural-urban divide, and barriers for minority populations. Different populations are in need of different solutions and resources to help close these treatment and care gaps. But one thing’s certain: Every person deserves the opportunity to reach their full health potential.

Looking Ahead

Year two of the campaign will focus on bringing voices together and taking action. This is not a fight that can be won alone. Coming together as a global community to raise awareness and education, advocates look forward to taking those necessary steps towards reaching equitable access to care.

The third and final year of the campaign focuses on ensuring that these collective voices and experiences reach policymakers and decisionmakers across the globe. This will involve asking policymakers to make a commitment to putting forward changes that can help close the care gap.

The bottom line is that, working together, advocates and policymakers can move toward health equity. The campaign’s ultimate vision is a world where outcomes and cancer care are not dependent upon an individual’s income, education, or geographical location.

To get involved with World Cancer Day and learn more about closing the care gap, visit worldcancerday.org.