Investing in gender equality and equitable access improves outcomes

Up to 80% of all patients with cancer will require surgical care. In 2015, the Lancet Oncology Commission on Global Cancer Surgery laid the foundations to address one of the most glaring disparities in cancer care: only 25% of patients with cancer worldwide will have access to safe, timely, and affordable surgery. 1 Sullivan R Alatise OI Anderson BO et al. Global cancer surgery: delivering safe, affordable, and timely cancer surgery. Lancet Oncol. 2015; 16: 1193-1224 Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Google Scholar Chandrakanth Are and colleagues' new Commission 2 Are C Murthy SS Sullivan R et al. Global Cancer Surgery: pragmatic solutions to improve cancer surgery outcomes worldwide. Lancet Oncol. 2023; published online Nov 1. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1470-2045(23)00412-6 Google Scholar examines the successes and persistent gaps in the provision of cancer surgery 8 years after the initial report's publication, and provides contextual solutions that consider the current macrotrends of global health—pandemics, climate change, and conflicts—on a backdrop of widening inequalities within and between countries. The updated work aims to reposition cancer surgery and surgeons as being central to cancer care and focuses on two broad areas: who does the work (and how the workforce can be optimised), and the work that is being done (and how equitable, value-based care can be achieved). Global Cancer Surgery: pragmatic solutions to improve cancer surgery outcomes worldwideThe first Lancet Oncology Commission on Global Cancer Surgery was published in 2015 and serves as a landmark paper in the field of cancer surgery. The Commission highlighted the burden of cancer and the importance of cancer surgery, while documenting the many inadequacies in the ability to deliver safe, timely, and affordable cancer surgical care. This Commission builds on the first Commission by focusing on solutions and actions to improve access to cancer surgery globally, developed by drawing upon the expertise from cancer surgery leaders across the world. Full-Text PDF