• The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) hascreated the Index of Cancer Preparedness(ICP). It draws on a wide range of data relevant to cancer policy andcontrol from 28 countries. The aimsof the ICP are to allow benchmarking of national efforts and identify bestpractice in addressing the cancer challenge.
• Australia tops the ICP, followed by the Netherlands and Germany.Saudi Arabia, Romania and Egypt face the largest room for improvement.
• The ICP explores the issue of cancerpreparedness through three broad domains: 1) policy and planning; 2) caredelivery; and 3) health systems and governance. The index found the biggest gaps in the health system domain,especially in middle- and low-income countries.
• The study accompanying the ICP identifies the four essentials of cancer preparedness:essential investment (appropriatespending and resources), roadmap(effective planning), foundation(functioning health systems) and intelligence(availability and quality of cancer-related data).

LONDON,UNITED KINGDOM - Media OutReach - 28 March 2019 - Cancer is the world's second biggest killer, responsiblefor 9.6m deaths in 2018--roughly one out of six across the globe--and the leadingor second largest cause of mortality before the age of 70 in over half theworld's countries. Amid demographic changes such as population ageing, cancerincidence is set to rise by 63% between 2018 and 2040, according to theInternational Agency for Research on Cancer. A new report by The EconomistIntelligence Unit looks at the complexities of this growing menace and atwhether the world is ready to face it.

Cancer preparedness around the world:National readiness for a global epidemic,funded with support from Novartis,Pfizer and Roche, introduces the Index of Cancer Preparedness (ICP),which draws on a wide range of data relevant to cancer policy and control from28 countries. The aims of the ICP are to allow benchmarking of national effortsand, even more, to initiate discussion on best practice in addressing thecancer challenge. Australia tops the ICP, followed by the Netherlands andGermany. Saudi Arabia, Romania and Egypt face the largest room for improvement.

The ICP exploresthe issue of cancer preparedness through three broad domains:

1. policy and planning;
2. care delivery; and
3. health systems and governance.

The index showsthat the highest scores on average are found in policy and planning. However,the countries' performances get weaker when moving from policy toimplementation to overall health system readiness and governance. This isparticularly the case in middle- and low-income countries.

The reportidentifies the four essentials of cancer preparedness. First, essentialinvestment refers to appropriate spending and resources dedicated to cancercare. Second essential roadmap refers to effective planning, especially vianational cancer control plans. Third, essential foundation refers to the needto embed cancer control in an accessible, general health system. And fourth,essential intelligence refers to the need to measure the nature of thechallenge as well as how well interventions are working, for example viapopulation-based cancer registries.

Martin Koehring, managing editor at the EIU, added: "No health system,no government and no society can afford a lukewarm response to cancer. Thisgroup of diseases is already the world's second biggest killer and costs theglobal economy upwards of US$1trn per year. The ICP is a useful benchmarkingtool to help policymakers and other key stakeholders to identify where theircountries stand in cancer control compared with their peers and how they canboost their preparedness."

View the index results and read theaccompanying white paper

The content ofthis report is solely the responsibility of the Economist Intelligence Unit andthe views expressed are not necessarily those of any of the sponsors.  

About The Economist Intelligence Unit

TheEIU is the thought leadership, research and analysis division of The EconomistGroup and the world leader in global business intelligence for executives. Weuncover novel and forward-looking perspectives with access to over 650 expertanalysts and editors across 200 countries worldwide. More information can befound on www.eiuperspectives.economist.com. Follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook