Tackling the Impact of Cancer on Health, the Economy and Society

The OECD will be launching the “Tackling the Impact of Cancer on Health, the Economy and Society” report on 21 November 2024 at 13:00-14:30 CET (Paris time).

Cancer causes one in four premature deaths in OECD countries, and accounts for 10% of healthcare expenditure. But its impacts extend beyond the health system. Cancer negatively affects people’s mental health, work life and income. At a societal level, cancer reduces workforce performance and productivity. Using microsimulation modelling, this report shows how stronger action on cancer would yield broad benefits in 51 countries (including OECD, European Union and G20 countries). Reducing the variability in cancer care outcomes across countries could prevent a quarter of premature cancer deaths. Addressing key cancer risk factors, including tobacco, alcohol, unhealthy diet, air quality, overweight and physical inactivity, would not only lower cancer rates and health expenditure, it would also benefit the labour market, safety and the environment. Vaccination for human papilloma virus can protect future generations from cervical cancer. The report demonstrates that there is a strong economic and societal well-being case for investing in cancer policies.

The agenda for the launch event is as follows:

21st of November 2024

• 13:00-13:05: Welcome and opening remarks
• 13:05-13:25: Presentation of the OECD report
• 13:25-13:40: Q&A with the audience and interventions
• 13:40-14:25: Panel discussion with the following confirmed speakers to discuss policy priorities to tackle cancer:
  • US National Cancer Institute - Ophira Ginsburg (Senior Scientific Advisor for Clinical Research)
  • EU JA PreventNCD - Knut Inge Klepp (Special Advisor, Norwegian Institute of Public Health and coordinator of the JA)
  • Cancer Research UK – Ian Walker (Executive Director)
  • UICC - Ulrika Årehed Kågström (President)
• 14:25-14:30 – closing remarks and end of the webinar

To learn about the findings from the report, as well as how countries are moving forward to improve the quality of care for cancer and invest on prevention, please register at this link.

For further information about this webinar, please contact: [email protected] or [email protected].