- Cancer is the second cause of death in Latin America, with more than 700 thousand deaths registered in 2020.
- A survey shows that 67% of cancer patients experienced delays in obtaining treatment and care due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
- The health emergency also increased inequality throughout the region.
The pandemic caused by COVID-19 compromised health systems in Mexico and Latin America, in addition to wreaking havoc on the ability to provide Atention to pacients with pathologies and non-communicable diseases such as cancer. Hospitals in some nations were converted, causing people’s treatment to be interrupted.
For this reason, Roche Pharmaceuticals, together with medical experts, and other organizations including the Americas Health Foundationthe EY-Parthenon team, and the Catalyst Consulting Group, developed the study: The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cancer care in Latin America.
Current landscape of cancer
Currently, cancer is the second leading cause of death in Latin Americawith more than 700 thousand deaths registered in 2020. In the case of Mexico, more than 90 thousand deaths were registered during the same year, according to the National Institute of Geography and Statistics (INEGI).
It should be noted that the death rate increased during the last decade, going from 6.18 deaths per 10,000 people in 2010 to 7.17 per 10,000 people in 2020, which reflects the importance of the economic impact on society and on health systems. Health.
According to the survey led by Roche, in the case of Mexico, it had a significant impact on medical care. 67% of patient organization respondents reported that people with cancer experienced delays in obtaining treatment and care, and 15% reported that patients were unable to receive their treatments.
Another aspect evaluated indicates that in our country there were delays in surgeries in 74%, diagnoses in 60% and chemotherapies in 65%. In the latter case, chemotherapy interruptions were common according to the doctors surveyed, with 76%, while more than 10% of their patients missed at least one cycle or appointment.
“The results of the study revealed the great challenges that we had been closely analyzing before the pandemic. However, the burden that our care networks have had to face in the last two years has reinforced the need to act now to strengthen our health systems and enable them to provide the necessary care for all patients, even in health emergency situations. ”, stated Rolf Hoenger, Area Head, Roche Pharma for Latin America.
The study assessed the impact of the pandemic on 18 key variables linked to cancer care in 11 countries of the region, through perception surveys with patient organizations, medical professionals from cancer centers and a mathematical model to estimate the economic impact of the pandemic in relation to cancer care.
Impact on women’s health
The report also highlights the repercussions that the pandemic had on women’s health in the region, and further reinforces Cancer and Covid-19 plus the existing gender inequality in health. Nearly 96% of physicians surveyed cited a specific reduction in the number of screening mammograms, which are key to detecting breast cancer at its earliest and most curable stage.
In terms of the economic burden that this generates, breast cancer represents a cost of 3,900 million dollarsapproximately 50% of the total estimated economic impact.
Dr. Mariana Rico, medical director of the Americas Health Foundation and author of the study, emphasized that, “The fragmented care of cancer patients has been a recurrent problem in Latin America, in contrast to the contemporary standard of cancer care that includes a coordinated with multidisciplinary teams. The pandemic, among all the challenges it brought, also aggravated this fragmentation, resulting in poorly timed care and often suboptimal quality.”
Along with the findings, the study highlights the following measures to be implemented to strengthen health systems and improve their response capacity: Governments must recognize and understand the burden generated by the pandemic in cancer care to implement comprehensive strategies to mitigate this impact.
And, consequently, prioritizing early detection and timely access to treatment, as well as avoiding interruptions in the treatment of all types of cancer to reduce the mortality rate and mitigate the economic impact. This will only be achieved if work is done on an optimal distribution of resources in the region by optimizing existing capacities and resorting to technology to take advantage of the use of data and telemedicine.