Registry research on the costs of cancer to be presented at an international conference in India

Researchers at the National Cancer Registry Ireland (NCRI) have estimated that lost productivity due to cancer deaths costs China over $28 billion each year, followed by India ($6.7 billion), Russia ($5 billion), Brazil ($4.6 billion) and finally South Africa ($2.8 billion) each year.

When people die due to cancer, their contribution to society through paid work, called productivity, is lost. Over 70% of cancer deaths in the world occur in developing countries, and Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (together known as the BRICS countries) are the most rapidly emerging economies in the world. Leading an international collaboration of researchers, the NCRI have been investigating productivity loss in the BRICS countries.

The analysis shows cancers related to tobacco contribute between 27% (South Africa) and 38% (India) of productivity losses across the BRICS countries. Over half of men in Russia and India smoke, and it is clear that anti-tobacco legislation is an important part of cancer control in the BRICS countries.

The analysis also shows the potential importance of vaccinations for hepatitis and HPV in BRICS countries. Cancers such as liver cancer, cervical cancer and head and neck cancers are all preventable with these vaccinations, but continue to have a high impact on lost productivity in BRICS countries.

These results are being presented today at the annual conference of the International Association of Cancer Registries (IACR). The conference is being held in Mumbai, India, and aims to provide people working in cancer registries with a forum for learning and exchanging ideas. The work has been done with a group of international collaborators, including from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in France, and researchers in Ireland, the UK, Brazil, Russia, India and China.