The Human Development Index Affects Cancer Survival Across Countries

The Human Development Index (HDI) measures a country's socioeconomic development. It assesses important factors such as economic prosperity, education and health to measure human development. The HDI is published by the International Human Development Programme.

These three factors, economic prosperity, education and health, are weighted equally to produce a country's HDI score. The score ranges from 0 to 1, with values closer to 1 indicating higher human development.

How Does the Human Development Index Affect Cancer Outcomes?

On 1 January 2023, THE LANCET Oncology published SURVCAN-3, a study determining cancer survival rates in 32 countries in Africa, Central and South America, and Asia.

The study covered 1,400,435 people with 15 major cancer types followed by 68 population-based cancer registries between 2008-2012.

Age-standardised net survival, accounting only for cancer deaths, was calculated, and results were analysed by classifying countries into HDI categories.

Net survival varied widely between countries and regions, and survival rates rose with increasing HDI.

Across cancer types, the lowest 3-year net survival rate in countries in the lowest HDI category was 54.6% for prostate cancer in Côte d’Ivoire; by contrast, the highest 3-year net survival rate for prostate cancer was 96.8% in Israel.

For breast cancer, 3-year net survival exceeded 80% in most countries. In Central and South America, it ranged from 80.9% in Chile to 90.5% in Costa Rica. In Africa, it ranged from 61.7% in Zimbabwe to 87.9% in Kenya, and in Asia from 56.0% in Iran to 93.9% in South Korea.

Although cancer-specific 3-5-year net survival data are not yet available for Turkey, our country ranks among the world's leading countries for healthcare quality and accessibility. One area in cancer care where we need to improve is awareness of clinical research, meaning studies involving human participants.

The researchers state that differences in cancer survival between countries depend on development level and the accessibility and efficiency of healthcare. They say these data can inform policymakers when setting priorities for cancer control.