The Largest Preventable Disease

Have you heard of HIV/aids? What about malaria? Maybe you know about tuberculosis. These are all issues faced by low-income countries and are often the cause of preventable death. But, there is one disease that is affecting low countries more than HIV/aids, more than malaria, and more than tuberculosis. In fact it is the leading cause of preventable death, more than HIV/aids, malaria, and TB combined! The fact is, cancer has become the leading cause of preventable death in low-income countries.

And it is going to get worse!

Cancer and cancer related death is on the increase, everywhere, period. The world health organisation estimated an increase of 70% in the number of diagnosed patients over the next two decades up to 2035. Think about that, and increase of 70%! That would mean that the number of preventable deaths would reach more than 50 million each year. That more than entire population of Spain, or South Korea, or South Africa, in one year.

Half of these new cancer are expected to occur in low and middle-income areas, and these areas will account for nearly 70% of all preventable deaths.

Why is this?

One of the main reasons for this is that these countries lack the resources to purchase equipment and resources. One of the most necessary pieces of equipment that is needed it the workhorse of radiotherapy, the Linac.

It is normal for high income countries to share one of these multi million dollar machines between 1200,00 people. So that’s one machine for every 120,000 people. Now, compare that to some of the lower-middle income regions. In Asia and the pacific, there are only four countries with more than 2 machines per million people. So most of Asia have to share a Linac between 500,000 people or more. In Latin America, only 5 of the 19 countries have more than 1 machine per million people. And it is far worse in Africa! In Africa nearly all radiotherapy Linacs are in 5 of the 52 countries, and 29 countries don’t even have a Linac.

Could it be that these machine have become too expensive?

Technology has made radiotherapy an effective cure for cancer, it helps prevent cancer related complications and can also be used for the treatment of pain and palliative care. All of this leads to an improved quality of life for the entire population. But with this improved technology, have Linacs become too expensive?

….Yes, and No…

The initial cost of a Linac is large, even the lowest model machines can reach the million dollar mark. However, after the initial investment, the cost of maintaining radiotherapy equipment and the facilities become relatively cheap, especially considering the benefit it delivers. And with an estimated working lifetime of greater than 10 years it becomes a worthwhile investment for any country.

But Cost isn’t the only issue, Training and personnel

Low and middle-income courtiers are less likely to have qualified professionals, even in some developed countries, a shortage of trained professionals exists. This is likely to continue with increasing cancer incidence due to life expectancy increases. In fact, even in some high income countries there is a shortage of professionals needed to run a radiotherapy center. Some countries have shown that they can improve their ability at producing skilled employees through minimal investment

How can this be?

How can the world be forgetting about cancer in low-income countries? With all the campaigns around the world for diseases such as, HIV/aids and malaria, we have seen considerable decrease in deaths caused by these preventable diseases. We all know that mosquito nets prevent malaria. So now we need to raise the awareness of cancer and Radiotherapy an effective treatment. This needs to be a global effort to increase investment and strategies to deal with this issue!

It’s a global responsibility

Technology has increased the price of treatment machines through ever advancing capabilities to deliver precise and less toxic radiotherapy. A push needs to be made into producing cheaper quality machine that require less maintenance, more reliable, and efficient on power. Think about plasma TV’s, years ago they had price tags with 5 digits, now I can go get a plasma in the 3 digit region. The same could be done with linear accelerators.

Radiotherapy is recommended for more than 50% of all new cancers, and not to mention that is used in pain relief and palliation. Reducing the burden of premature deaths on a country can help the country grow economically. More investment in health leads to healthier people, which in turn leads to a stronger economy. There are millions and millions going around to try to help low-income countries develop. I suggest more be invested in health care of these countries.

This blog post was inspired by browsing the Global RT website and the Medical Physicist for World Benefit sites.

Thanks for reading this post, Please visit Global RT and Medical Physicist for World Benefit to see if you can help this cause. Please leave any feedback or question that you have in the comments section below! Or send me a message! I can’t wait to read them!

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RRR

Originally published at www.radicalradiationremedy.com on February 1, 2017.