Understanding the access gap in cancer care

If medical innovation alone were enough to advance cancer care, a highly preventable disease like cervical cancer would be nearly eliminated, but it takes one life globally every two minutes. How should we think differently about the barriers that exist between scientific discovery and patient impact and how can we partner to address them?

Cervical cancer is a disease that we already have the power to nearly eliminate via prevention. Almost all cases of cervical cancer are caused by human papillomavirus (HPV) and thanks to HPV vaccination, testing and treatment options, cervical cancer is one of the most successfully preventable and treatable forms of cancer. Despite this fact, more than 340,000 women and people with a cervix die from cervical cancer every year. 

So what stands between us and our ability to eliminate this highly preventable disease that takes one life every two minutes?

Ensuring access to prevention 

Approximately 90 percent of cervical cancer deaths occur in low- to middle-income countries where 91 percent of women have never been screened for cervical cancer in their lifetime. The disproportionate burden of cervical cancer globally reflects the reality of access to essential healthcare services. The same is true of women in high income countries from underrepresented populations. When even basic healthcare is difficult to access, utilisation of preventive care, such as cancer screening and vaccination, is greatly diminished. Most advanced testing that offers genomic accuracy at scale is performed in large laboratories and hospitals. When proximity or access to these types of facilities is not available, where you live becomes the single greatest determining factor in your health. 

While we need to bolster broader public health efforts, we also need to enable the success of these initiatives through development of testing modalities like cervical self-sampling that bring testing closer to patients and have the potential to reduce gaps in access. Through adoption and implementation of cervical cancer programmes that enable equitable delivery of high-quality screening and vaccination, cervical cancer can be prevented or treated early. 

Driving information that matters

An additional gap in cancer care is the ready availability of quality information and broader awareness of options for diagnosis and prevention. The speed of change and rapid innovation across multiple disciplines and stakeholders in healthcare creates unique knowledge gaps. What is critical is getting the right information to the right people. Even some countries with strong public healthcare systems aren’t universally using the best practice HPV testing or vaccination programs – and cost is not the barrier. How are we reaching the multidisciplinary care team closest to the patient (oncologist, pathologist, surgeon, nurse)? Are we making focused efforts to bring along community healthcare and rural centres of care? There is a huge healthcare ecosystem of regulators, payers and policymakers who all need information that helps them make informed decisions to advance human health. We also need to drive information to the public that empowers people to take charge of their own health. 

Closing the care gap together

Anyone who has battled cancer knows it’s a disease you can’t manage alone. The same is true of our work to expand access to testing and therapies. If we hope to advance the cause, it will require us to push the boundaries of science and collaborate with cancer organisations, research institutes, patient groups, governments and local communities. Multi-stakeholder collaboration and public-private partnerships are crucial to accelerate our goals towards the elimination of cervical cancer, establishing sustainable national programs tailored to unmet national needs. 

We need to focus on stronger public/private partnerships with governments, payers, policymakers and advocacy groups and create more bold goals like the World Health Organization’s effort to eliminate cervical cancer. Like you, I am passionate about improving the lives of people with cancer. But our collective passion and best science are simply not enough to make a sustainable impact for patients. It will take enduring partnerships and a willingness to work beyond company, geographic and industry borders. We must learn that progress isn’t really progress unless it touches all who need it.