Management of cancer

• In 2022, there were and estimated 2.4 million new cases of cancer in the (WHO) South-East Asia Region. This included 56,000 children. Cancers of breast, cervix and lung are the most common cancers. The region has the highest rate of incidence for cancer of lips and oral cavity. In the same year, the number of cancer deaths were estimated to be 1.5 million.
• The incidence as well as mortality are increasing by almost one third every 10 years and compared to 2022, these are projected to almost double by they year 2050. This highlights the importance in scaling up the services for cancer in the countries.
• Despite notable progresses being made in the countries in the Region, some persistent challenges have hindered the path to achieving accessible quality cancer care in many countries in the Region. This has led to the mortality-to-incidence ratio for the Region being  almost double that for high income countries indicating poor capacity for management of cancers.

WHO South-East Asia Response

• The WHO South-East Asia Regional Strategy for comprehensive cancer prevention and management 2024–2030 has been developed to serve as a guide to promote a contextualized, evidence-based approach to cancer control, leveraging support from the global initiatives on cancer.
• WHO has established the WHO South-East Asia Cancer Grid (SEACanGrid) and the South-East Asia Regional Childhood Cancer Network (SEAR-CCN) that foster collaboration in technical capacity building.
• WHO supports Member States in implementation of the global initiatives on childhood, breast and cervical cancer as well as in strengthening cancer registries.