In addition to the four main work areas, a number of cross cutting themes apply throughout the CUP Global work.
Consideration of health inequalities, cancer disparities and a global perspective are central to effective cancer prevention and control. Below we outline our plans for addressing these factors.
There have been great improvements in early detection, diagnosis and treatment for certain cancers and a greater awareness of environmental risk factors especially dietary factors, in part due to the pioneering work of WCRF’s First, Second and Third Expert Reports.
However, there are substantial differences within and between countries in individuals’ likelihood of having a cancer diagnosis and surviving the disease. Typically the most disadvantaged in society have the poorest health outcomes, with differential exposure to risk factors and access to effective screening and treatment services contributing.
CUP Global strives to make globally relevant recommendations for cancer prevention and survivorship, but has been hampered by limited data availability especially in low and middle income countries (LMIC). This has prevented the synthesis of inequalities related data and limited analysis by country.
For the future, the ambition is for our work to have both a strong global perspective and focus on inequalities via the following approaches:
> Read an overview of the Global Cancer Update Programme
> Find out more about the CUP Global Strategy