WHO says fighting cancer now less about what we don't know and more about what we don't do

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2026-07-08 23:00

International

What does this mean?

Jump to: MultimediaAttachmentsExpert Reaction

Much of the burden of cancer felt around the world is now about a lack of access to care rather than a lack of knowledge on how to prevent and treat it, according to the World Health Organization's Global Status Report on cancer for 2026. The report outlines how global inequity means common cancers now have high survival rates in high-income countries while lower-income countries aren't seeing the same improvements - for example, five-year survival for breast and childhood cancer is now above 85% for wealthy countries but below 30% for the least wealthy. In the report, the WHO makes key recommendations for better implementing cancer control policies around the world to help close this gap.