Researchers say action could have prevented thousands of premature cancer deaths in women in 2020
CTV
Prevention could have prevented nearly seven in 10 premature cancer deaths among women worldwide in 2020, new research has found.
Prevention could have prevented nearly seven in 10 premature cancer deaths among women worldwide in 2020, new research has found.
The Lancet Commission on Women, Power, and Cancer, as well as the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), released their findings this week on the issue.
The researchers say 5.3 million adults, between 30 and 69 years old, died prematurely from cancer in 2020 around the world. Of those, 2.3 million were women.
The findings suggest that prevention could have stopped roughly two-thirds of those deaths.
"Globally, there are marked inequalities between countries in reaching the target of reducing premature mortality from non-communicable diseases, including cancer, set out by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals," Dr. Isabelle Soerjomataram, deputy head of the Cancer Surveillance Branch at IARC and co-chair of the Lancet Commission on Women, Power, and Cancer, said in a news release.
"Greater investments in cancer prevention programmes can reduce the prevalence of key risk factors for cancer, and increased coverage of vaccination alongside early diagnosis and screening linked to timely treatment can and must address the current cancer inequalities that are seen worldwide."
The research found premature deaths from cancer in women were higher in countries with a low Human Development Index (HDI), a United Nations measurement that includes a number of different factors such as standard of living.
