Cancer Care
Assuring Quality to Improve Survival
More than five million new cases of cancer are diagnosed every year in OECD countries. Mortality rates are declining, but not as fast as for other big killers such as heart disease, and cancer survival rates show almost a four-fold difference across countries. In short, many countries are not doing as well as they could in the fight against cancer.
Cancer Care: Assuring Quality to Improve Survival surveys the policy trends in cancer care over recent years and looks at survival rates to identify the why some countries are doing better than others. It sets out what governments should do to reduce the burden of cancer in their countries. As well as an adequate level of resourcing, a comprehensive national cancer control plan appears critical, emphasising initiatives such as early detection and fast-track treatment pathways. Countries also need better data, particularly for patients’ experiences of care, in order to provide high quality, continuously improving cancer care.
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Executive summary
Cancer remains a major health care challenge in all OECD countries. More than 5 million new cases of cancer are diagnosed every year in OECD countries, averaging about 261 cases per 100 000 people. Cancer is responsible for more than one-quarter of all deaths and, in terms of potential life years lost, is a bigger problem than heart attacks and strokes for both men and women.
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