Raise global awareness of the impact of cancer on developing countries, creating a call to action on both the global and national level. Define the packages of essential services and treatments needed to provide care in low-resource settings for cancers that can be cured or palliated with currently available therapies. Increase access to the best treatment for cancer through the procurement of affordable drugs and services. Reduce human suffering from all cancers through universal access to pain control and palliation. Develop and evaluate successful service delivery models in different economic and health system settings and share the lessons and evidence globally. Expand the leadership, stewardship and evidence base for implementing the most efficient approaches to cancer care and control in developing countries.

As Princess Dina Mired of Jordan, Honorary Co-President of the GTF.CCC, confirms, "Our focus is on fixing the harsh inequity and disparity that exists with cancer treatment between the developed and the developing world. Having the chance to live should not be an accident of geography."

The extension of integrated cancer prevention, diagnosis and treatment to millions of people at risk of or living with cancer is an urgent health and ethical priority. The authors argue - citing data from resource-constrained settings - that the unacceptable gap between poor and rich can be reduced through a bold research, financing and implementation agenda that combines global and local efforts.

According to Larry Shulman, "Access to life-saving cancer care is a human right, and must be brought to those in developing countries. We have shown we can do this in the treatment of other illnesses, and we can and must do this with cancer care. This should be viewed as an imperative rather than as an option."

Source: Harvard Medical School