Governance
Index of Cancer Preparedness
- 20 Apr 2019
- 3 min read
The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) has created the Index of Cancer Preparedness (ICP).
- It draws on a wide range of data relevant to cancer policy and control from 28 countries.
- The aims of the ICP are to allow benchmarking of national efforts and identify best practice in addressing the cancer challenge.
Index of Cancer Preparedness (ICP)
- Australia tops the ICP, followed by the Netherlands and Germany. Saudi Arabia, Romania, and Egypt face at the bottom in Index.
- The ICP explores the issue of cancer preparedness through three broad domains:
- policy and planning;
- care delivery;
- health systems and governance.
- Four essentials of cancer preparedness:
- essential investment (appropriate spending and resources),
- roadmap (effective planning),
- foundation (functioning health systems),
- intelligence (availability and quality of cancer-related data).
Cancer
- Cancer is a generic term for a large group of diseases characterized by the growth of abnormal cells beyond their usual boundaries that can then invade adjoining parts of the body and/or spread to other organs.
- Other common terms used for cancer are malignant tumors and neoplasms.
- Cancer is the second leading cause of death globally and is estimated to account for 9.6 million death in 2018.
- World Cancer Day is observed on 4th February every year.
Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU)
- The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), created in 1946, is the research and analysis division of The Economist Group and the world leader in global business intelligence.
India and ICP
- India's overall rank is 19th with a score of 64.9.
- India ranks 17th in cancer policy and planning, but it has a relatively high score of 80.8.
- India’s score largely stems from its strong cancer research and tobacco control measures.
- It ranked first for research and third for tobacco control in ICP.
- India ranks 23rd for its national cancer control plan.
- With a score of 40.3, India’s healthcare system ranks 25th in the index, above only Saudi Arabia, Kenya, Egypt.
- India’s healthcare infrastructure is the second worst among the index countries.
- In its delivery of cancer care, India ranks 20th with a score of 61.3.
- India has a high standard of clinical guidelines, a category in which it is ranked first.
- India falls short on immunization, screening and early detection.
