Delivery of Care
(Re)Thinking Psycho-oncology in a world out of balance: What I learned after a year of interviews
"One must imagine Sisyphus happy" Albert Camus Why me? This is probably the present-day question of every patient with cancer! One of the consequences of our chaotic reality is cancer, which belongs to that class of diseases that impacts the…
ACT for Children:A Global Initiative to Tackle Inequities in Pediatric Cancer
The disparity in childhood cancer outcomes is one of the world’s most pressing health inequities. While over 80% of children with cancer are cured in high-income countries (HICs), survival drops to less than 30% in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).…
Istanbul, Ankara take action on HPV vaccination, as government delays promised national programme
The two largest cities in Türkiye have stepped in to promote HPV vaccination at a local level, including free inoculation for young people from the poorest families, as the state fails to deliver on its commitment to add HPV to…
Seeking to get pregnant when the cancer is advanced
Faced with the sudden knowledge that the life they had expected will be suddenly cut short, some women find hope and existential meaning in trying for a child that that will be theirs for their remaining time, and carry their…
How Indian centres slashed treatment drop-out rates in childhood cancer
Dedicated support from day 1 for families of children diagnosed with cancer has resulted in a reduction in children failing to complete their course of treatment from one in five to one in fifty. The result has been a significant…
China’s integrated cancer care guidelines ‘reflect self-confidence’ in the field of oncology
China’s oncologists now have access to guidelines which have been developed specifically for their patient population, incorporating locally generated evidence, and embracing holistic approaches to care, including appropriate use of Chinese traditional medicine. Tina Jiang was at the China Integrative…
Humour: an essential tool in cancer care and communication
“I don’t know what I’ll find in there. It could be cancer. In the best case, you’ll be stuck with a bag for the rest of your life.” Those are the words Paweł Grabowski, a fit and health-conscious 48-year-old from…
Quality palliative care: investing in data collection to monitor and improve services in Africa
Effective palliative care has become a growing priority in African health services in recent decades. This is partly a result of the increasing burden of non-communicable diseases including cancer – and the sad reality that palliative care is often all…
Cancer treatment or future parenthood? Poland’s patients are finally spared that choice
Efforts to ensure that cancer patients can have children after treatment have been hampered in Poland by the lack of a national fertility service. The costs of fertility preservation – greater than the average Polish salary – have normally had…
India’s HPV vaccine: another step towards eradicating cervical cancer
It’s hard to remember that, at the time it was introduced in 2008, many questions were raised about whether the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine would be cost effective. In the intervening decade and a half, it has become abundantly clear…