Posts by tag
LMICs
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).…
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…
Advocating for accessible cancer care in the global South: are we doing this all wrong?
“You have to convince the people with their hands on the levers of power. They don’t see things as we see them. They have other problems on their minds…” Ten years after launching the Stop Cancer Now! appeal, which outlined…
Our new journal from India is enriching the cancer publications landscape
We launched Cancer Research, Statistics and Treatment at the internationally renowned Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai, in 2018. It was my colleague, Professor of Medical Oncology, Kumar Prabhash, who prodded me to start the journal. I had already been the Editor-in-Chief…
AI-generated radiotherapy planning could boost access to high-quality treatment across the globe
Can artificial intelligence help design radiotherapy treatment plans, reducing time and cost while matching the quality of skilled professionals? That is the question that a new multi-centre and multi-arm ARCHERY study is trying to answer. The global study, still at…
Immunotherapy: outcomes of ultra low-dose trial offer hope for better global access
Doctors at the Tata Memorial Hospital in Mumbai have shown that an ultra-low dose of the immunotherapy drug nivolumab significantly improves survival in patients with recurrent or newly diagnosed head and neck cancers. The findings of the single-centre phase III…
First voluntary licensing of cancer drug sets ‘vital precedent’ for the industry
The first voluntary licence for a patented cancer medicine was signed last month on the fringes of the 2022 World Cancer Congress in Geneva. The agreement between the pharmaceutical company Novartis and the Medicines Patent Pool – a UN backed…
Begging for imatinib: why do so many patients still lack access to this lifesaver?
Following doctor’s orders doesn’t usually mean making a two-hour round trip to visit your hospital twice a week to beg for any spare medication on the off-chance that someone has had to change to a different drug, or was able…
North and South ‒ learning faster means learning together
When you look at the vast waiting area in Mumbai’s world leading Tata Memorial Cancer Hospital, pictured above, what do you see? A crowded chaotic scene where sick patients and their relatives sit around for hours, waiting, hoping for someone…