THE global financial crisis may have caused an additional 500,000 cancer deaths from 2008-2010, a new study said last week, with patients locked out of treatment because of unemployment and healthcare cuts.
“We estimate that the economic crisis was associated with over 260,000 excess cancer deaths in the OECD (34-member Organisa- tion for Economic Co- operation and Develop- ment) alone, between 2008-2010,” study au- thor Mahiben Maru- thappu of Imperial College London said.
“This suggests there could have been well over 500,000 excess cancer deaths worldwide during this time.”
The study was published in The Lancet medical journal.
The figures were extrapolated from an observed rise in cancer deaths for every percentage increase in unemployment, and every drop in public healthcare spending.
“Cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide so understanding how economic changes affect cancer survival is crucial,” Maruthappu said.
For the European Union, the estimate was 160,000 additional deaths – a term used to describe people who would not otherwise have died.
For the US, the estimate was 18,000 and for France 1,500. In Spain and Britain, which provided universal healthcare, no additional deaths were calculated.
“We found that in- creased unemployment was associated with an increased cancer mortality, but that universal health coverage protected against these effects,” Maruthappu added.
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