- From the lack of preventive measures to late diagnoses are the main enemies to be defeated.
- According to predictions, if the trend continues, cancer cases in Latin America will increase 70% by 2030.
- Lung, breast and prostate tumors are the most common in the region.
Representatives of civil organizations from Mexico, Argentina and Colombia agreed that the main challenges facing Latin America in terms of cancer care are the fragmentation of health systems and late diagnoses. Also ineffective prevention and delay in treatment.
They added that other issues that directly affect people living with a tumor are the lack of access, as well as the lack of legislation that ensures continuous care.
In the panel “Overcoming the challenges in cancer care: an interdisciplinary approach”, which took place during the Innovation Week of the Pharmaceutical Research Industries Association (AMIIF) 2023, María Fernanda Navarro, Regional Director of the City Cancer Challenge Foundation, mentioned that the lack of communication and collaboration, as well as the fragmentation of health systems in Latin America, prevent continuity of patient care, who do not arrive with the specialist in due time.
In his speech, Kenji López, president of the Cancer Warriors Mexico Foundationpointed out that our country faces challenges such as late detection of cancer, caused by the absence of a culture in terms of prevention and a significant aversion to investment in health.
“We do not have regulatory frameworks that guarantee traceability and sustainability in the approach to cancer. Between 70 and 80% of all types of cancer in our country are detected in advanced stages, which means an increase in the cost of treatments and a low expectation of recovery for those who suffer from it”.
He also stated that political volatility also affects the approach to cancer and has an impact on the lack of continuity in public policies aimed at treating this disease.
“That is why it is important to bet on regulatory frameworks or legislation that guarantees the survival of programs and plans for the care of illnesses. For example, in Mexico we lack a National Law for Cancer”.
Challenges of cancer in Latin America
According to Virginia Abello, leader of the Leukemia, Lymphoma and Myeloma Functional Unit of the CTIC Luis Carlos Sarmiento Angulo Foundation, from Colombia, “other important challenges facing the region in terms of cancer care are inequity and lack of true information to confirm results and measure outcomes”.
Matías Loyato Buchmüller, Director of Revenue at Mamotest, an Argentine civil organization focused on breast cancer, expressed that one of the great challenges we have in the region is accurate diagnosis and quality in the processes. Through awareness, work must be done to achieve diagnosis in early stages and reduce the time for the prescription of treatment.
In the view of Elysse Bautista González, coordinator and principal investigator of Código Cáncer, from the Mexican Foundation for Health (FUNSALUD), a problem in equitable cancer care is that many efforts are focused on breast cancer and other types of tumors are left behind.
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Cancer cases in Latin America will increase by 70 percent by 2030
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