Abstract
Surgery is the mainstay of cancer treatment and lack of surgical treatment is a major driver in holding back optimal cancer care. Surgery is essential for global cancer care in all resource settings. Of the estimated 18.1 million new cases of cancer in 2018, over 80% of cases will need surgery, some several times. Many patients throughout the world do not have access to cancer surgery. Many of the key adjunct treatment modalities for cancer surgery—e.g., anaesthesia, pathology and imaging—are also inadequate. Solutions are necessary and should include better-regulated public systems, international partnerships, super-centralisation of surgical services, novel surgical clinical trials and new approaches to improve quality and scale up cancer surgical systems through education and training. Delivery of safe, affordable and timely cancer surgery to all must be at the heart of global and national cancer-control planning.
Highlights
Surgery is the mainstay of cancer treatment and lack of surgical treatment is a major driver in holding back optimal cancer care
Recognition of the value of surgical care
While it is a laudable goal to scale up provision by providing a centralised specialist service in the major hospitals, the reality of life in rural Africa is that the prospect of requiring travel and accommodation to receive such specialist care may be well beyond the means of patients whose local presence is vital to provision for their families
Summary
Surgery is the mainstay of cancer treatment and lack of surgical treatment is a major driver in holding back optimal cancer care. While specialist surgeons are developing a specific practice in cancer treatment, it is not helpful to try to draw an analogy with the way specialist surgical care has developed in Western nations.
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