‘Feminist approach’ to cancer could save lives of 800,000 women a year

Health experts are calling for a “feminist approach” to cancer to eliminate inequalities, as research reveals 800,000 women worldwide are dying needlessly every year because they are denied optimal care.

Cancer is one of the biggest killers of women and ranks in their top three causes of premature deaths in almost every country on every continent.

But gender inequality and discrimination are reducing women’s opportunities to avoid cancer risks and impeding their ability to get a timely diagnosis and quality care, according to a new Lancet Commission on women, power and cancer.

The largest report of its kind, which studied women and cancer in 185 countries, found unequal power dynamics across society globally were having “resounding negative impacts” on how women experience cancer prevention and treatment.

Gender inequalities are also hindering women’s professional advancement as leaders in cancer research, practice and policymaking, which in turn perpetuates the lack of women-centred cancer prevention and care, the report adds.

It is calling for a new feminist agenda for cancer care to eliminate gender inequality.

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Source: The Guardian, 26 September 2023