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Global Health Econ Sustain Disparities in cancer outcomes

research aims to characterize shifts in observed mortality to improve cancer care and management in European
rate patterns over time, leveraging longitudinal data on countries. Given the significant impact of cancer on
mortality. individuals, national health systems, and the broader
economic landscape, numerous European countries have
While most European countries have established
cancer control initiatives, a significant number of these instituted cancer control activities over the years. These
initiatives manifest in the form of well-defined strategies
programs either lack adequate attention or inadequately and programs geared toward addressing the intricate
address crucial aspects, such as resource allocation, challenges posed by cancer across both health-care and
management, outcome quality evaluation, and financing. socioeconomic domains.
These elements are pivotal for ensuring the efficiency
of a health-care system and the efficacy of individual 2. Methods
cancer control programs (Asandului et al., 2013). Three
primary inquiries are explored to enhance understanding 2.1. Incidence, survival, and mortality data
of the intrinsic value of national cancer care (European The age-standardized mortality rates for cancer at the
Commission, 2019; 2021; Teisberg et al., 2020): (i) How national level were acquired from the International Agency
does contemporary cancer-related health-care spending for Research on Cancer (IARC), utilizing the GLOBOCAN
1
vary among European countries?; (ii) What correlations 2020 estimates covering incidence, mortality, and
can be discerned between national cancer-related spending prevalence across 36 different cancer types categorized
and cancer mortality rates?; and (iii) What is the additional by gender and age groups. However, there is currently
expenditure associated with preventing each death in no effective means of monitoring the ongoing changes in
European countries? Across these inquiries, this study aims the cancer burden at the EU level. Factors contributing
to contribute nuanced insights into the intricate interplay to declining prevalence and mortality rates include
between health system dynamics and cancer outcomes on innovations in early detection, precision diagnostic
a national scale. technologies, and advancements in treatment modalities
(Loud & Murphy, 2017). Lifestyle changes, preventive
This intricate landscape is further complicated by vaccines, and effective health-care policies have positively
pronounced disparities in cancer incidence, mortality, influenced cancer outcomes.
and prevalence, evident both across and within European
Union (EU) member states, presenting a formidable The categorization of countries based on income level
challenge for public health practitioners (La Vecchia et al., and the allocation of government expenditure on healthcare
2015). Addressing these disparities necessitates a nuanced were sourced from the World Health Organization (WHO)
understanding of health-care outcomes, underscoring the and the World Bank. The Universal Health Coverage Index
critical importance of comparative assessments across (UHC Index), obtained from the WHO, is a comprehensive
diverse health-care systems (Karanikolos et al., 2013). Such measure to gauge advancements toward achieving the
assessments not only illuminate prevailing challenges but United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goal
also provide invaluable insights for shaping health policies (SDG) indicator 3.8.1, which assesses the coverage of
geared toward fostering equitable and effective cancer fundamental health services. It incorporates various
care (Patel et al., 2020; Al Saud et al., 2018). Within this essential health interventions, encompassing reproductive,
context, the study strives to enrich comprehension of these maternal, neonatal, and child health; infectious diseases;
intricacies and provide suggestions for potential policy non-communicable diseases (NCDs); and health-care
capacity and accessibility. The index is depicted on a scale
actions geared toward improving cancer care outcomes ranging from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicative of
throughout Europe. The findings highlight significant superior performance (Kieny et al., 2017).
differences in health system characteristics and cancer
burden among European countries. Particularly, countries Prior research has uncovered notable disparities
with higher income levels typically exhibit more favorable in cancer incidence, mortality, and survival among
health system metrics, including increased health-care industrialized countries (Afshar et al., 2020; Bastos et al.,
spending relative to gross domestic product (GDP) and 2010). Examining these variations between countries and
broader accessibility to universal health services. These regions offers insights into health policy formulation,
countries also have lower age-standardized mortality rates, aiding in the identification of elements within health
suggesting a positive association between health system systems that contribute to improved outcomes (Renzi et al.,
performance and cancer outcomes. Moreover, the findings 1 For the GLOBOCAN 2020 database, see https://gco.iarc.fr/today;
enhance understanding of the factors influencing cancer ECIS - European Cancer Information System. Incidence and mortality
burden and highlight areas for targeted interventions estimates 2023. Available from: https://ecis.jrc.ec.europa.eu.

Volume 2 Issue 2 (2024) 2 https://doi.org/10.36922/ghes.3216