World Cancer Day – highlighting the impact of health inequalities

Posted: 29/01/2024

This Sunday, 4 February, is World Cancer Day, part of a campaign led by the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) to close the gap in cancer care. World Cancer Day was created in 2000, and its aims are to raise worldwide awareness, improve education, and to push for personal, community and government action, so that millions of preventable cancer deaths are saved and access to lifesaving treatment and care is equitable for all.

The aim of this year’s campaign is to bring to the attention of world leaders the impact of cancer, demanding a commitment to prioritise it and eliminate health inequalities by addressing their root cases, ensuring that everyone has access to quality health services. The UICC is asking for action through a number of activities, such as writing a blog, taking part in a 5K challenge, or writing to an MP to inform them of the disparities in cancer care and requesting action to eliminate these.

In England, cancers are now the leading cause of death, overtaking cardiovascular diseases, and recent research by Imperial College, London, has identified that the risk of dying from cancer is highly variant depending on where people live. It reports that while at the national level the risk of dying from cancer before 80 years of age declined from 2002-2019 for both men and women, the highest risks were in northern cities such as Liverpool, Manchester, Hull and Newcastle, and in coastal areas to the east of London.

The risk for women of dying from cancer before 80 years of age ranged from one in ten in Westminster to one in six in Manchester, while for men the risk ranged from one in eight in Harrow (Greater London) to one in five in Manchester. The greatest inequality across regions was for cancers with risk factors such as smoking, alcohol and obesity, but also, sadly, for those for which pre-cancer screening is actually available.

The risk of dying from cancer was higher for both men and women in districts with more poverty. This is considered to be partly due to the risk of dying from lung cancer (the leading cancer cause of death for both sexes), which is strongly linked with poverty. Imperial College reported that, for example, women in Knowsley in 2019 had three times the risk of dying from lung cancer than those in Waverley, and men in Manchester had three times the risk of dying from lung cancer than men in Guildford.

One of the study authors, Professor Amanda Cross, is quoted as saying that ‘access to cancer screening and diagnostic services which can prevent cancer or catch it early are key in reducing some of the inequalities our study highlights’.

Elizabeth Maloney, associate in the clinical negligence team at Penningtons Manches Cooper comments: “Sadly, we see many examples where a patient suffering from cancer has not received either pre-cancer screening, or timely diagnosis and care. Early diagnosis and treatment are key to optimising chances of achieving remission from cancer. If there have been errors in care and there is a worse outcome for the patient, there are likely to be serious implications, such as a need for additional care, loss of earnings, or even reduced life expectancy.”

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