Huq M Saiful, Acharya Sandhya C, Sharma Susmita, Poudyal Saugat, Sapkota Simit, Shrestha Sunil, Gautam Manish, Silwal Sudhir R, Haque Mohammad M, Uddin A F M Kamal, Gunasekara Sanjeeva, Babu K Govind, Tshomo Ugyen, Safi Ahmad J, Masood Ahmed I, Sumon Mostafa A, Hai Mohammad A, Hossain Altaf, Purvin Shaila, Skinner Heath Devin, Avery Stephen, Ngwa Wilfred, Wijesooriya Krishni
Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA; UPMC Hillman Cancer Center, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
Clinical Oncology, Bir Hospital, National Academy of Medical Sciences (NAMS), Kathmandu, Nepal.
Lancet Oncol. 2024 Dec;25(12):e639-e649. doi: 10.1016/S1470-2045(24)00521-7.
South Asian Association for Regional Collaboration (SAARC) countries, home to 24% of the world's population, are facing the double burden of disease (ie, where a population experiences both an increasing incidence of cancers typically associated with affluence and a sustained or rising burden of cancers linked to infections and poverty) with non-communicable diseases (NCDs) attributing to 47% of the global burden of disease and to about 60% of all deaths. In 2022, cancer in this region accounted for approximately 9·3% of incidence worldwide and 12% of global mortality. Cancer is one of the major NCDs affecting South Asia, accounting for a large proportion of disability-adjusted life-years lost in this region. The most common cancers are lung, head and neck, and gastrointestinal cancers in both sexes, and cervix and breast cancers in females. The cancer burden is high in SAARC countries, although there are differences among countries and within urban and rural regions of each country, depending on the level of available resources, development, and epidemiological shift. Here we discuss various cancer care issues and challenges throughout the cancer care continuum in the SAARC region. We make an urgent call for regional collaboration to develop, modify, and implement a holistic cancer control plan and formulate a systematic approach directed to address the growing burden of cancer in this region. It is crucial to establish strong political will and commitment to take forward the recommended actions outlined in this Series to overcome and address the cancer crisis in the SAARC region, aligning with Sustainable Development Goal 2030 targets.
南亚区域合作联盟（SAARC）国家拥有世界24%的人口，正面临疾病双重负担（即，该地区人口既要应对通常与富裕相关的癌症发病率上升，又要应对与感染和贫困相关的癌症持续或上升的负担），非传染性疾病（NCDs）占全球疾病负担的47%，占所有死亡人数的约60%。2022年，该地区癌症发病率约占全球的9.3%，全球死亡率占12%。癌症是影响南亚的主要非传染性疾病之一，在该地区因残疾调整生命年损失中占很大比例。最常见的癌症在男性和女性中都是肺癌、头颈癌和胃肠道癌，在女性中是宫颈癌和乳腺癌。尽管各国之间以及每个国家的城乡地区之间存在差异，这取决于可用资源水平、发展情况和流行病学转变，但SAARC国家的癌症负担仍然很高。在此，我们讨论SAARC地区整个癌症护理连续过程中的各种癌症护理问题和挑战。我们紧急呼吁开展区域合作，以制定、修改和实施全面的癌症控制计划，并制定一种系统方法来应对该地区日益增加的癌症负担。至关重要的是要建立强大的政治意愿和承诺，推进本系列中概述的建议行动，以克服和应对SAARC地区的癌症危机，与2030年可持续发展目标保持一致。
