Understanding and addressing global inequities in cancer survivorship care

Cancer survivorship focuses on efforts to understand and address the health care needs of people diagnosed with cancer beyond the acute diagnosis and treatment phase. Cancer survivors have complex needs, and require comprehensive, coordinated care among oncologists, other specialists, and primary care providers. Most of the work on cancer survivorship has been concentrated in a limited number of high-income countries (including Australia), leading to the development and implementation of effective care models. It is likely that the situation differs in low- and middle-income countries, where the awareness of and ability to address long-term issues affecting cancer survivors may be limited.  This article offers four recommendations to advance cancer survivorship care more equitably across the globe. These include conducting research to understand the current state of survivorship care in low- and middle-income countries, the development and dissemination of resource-stratified guidelines for survivorship care, expanding the number of national cancer control plans that address cancer survivorship, and the formation of regional partnerships to improve survivorship care. Read full text