With cancer ranking as the primary or secondary cause of premature death in almost 100 countries worldwide, the World Health Organization recognized a high level of investment in cancer control and treatment (including palliative care) in 2019. At that time, governments at the World Health Assembly (WHA) unanimously adopted a new cancer resolution (Universal Health Coverage: Moving Together to Build a Healthier World). The resolution noted the potential for cancer prevention to reduce canc...

The new global cancer data suggests that the global burden has risen to 18.1 million new cases per year and 9.6 million cancer deaths per year. A number of factors appear to be driving this increase, in particular, a growing and aging global population and an increase of exposure to cancer risk factors linked to social and economic development. For rapidly-growing economies, the data suggests a shift from poverty- or infection-related cancers to those associated with lifestyles more typica...

This is a rare compilation of clinically focused chapters on the practice of oncology in more than 25 countries and areas around the world that experience ongoing or intensifying ethnic, religious, and nationalistic conflict. Each chapter is written by an internationally respected local physician or nurse. Topics include the relationship between local culture and the local practice of mainstream modern medicine, critical clinical issues faced by local physicians, and options for when and h...