CANCER BACKLOG IS OUR NEXT HEALTH CRISIS
It is hard to dispute the fact that COVID brought us significant suffering as well as some blessings. COVID caused the loss of 3.8M lives- likely an underestimation, and it devastated economies across the globe. Concurrently, we moved light years in embracing virtual care and learnt how to run businesses remotely. In a few years time, when we look back at COVID’s other repercussions, we will sadly observe its effects on cancer as both stunning and far reaching.
In 2020 alone more than one billion clinical visits in the U.S. did not take place either virtually or in-person. This includes over 22M screening tests for the top cancers that were squarely missed. In 2021, the number of overall visits is still down by 12%. Today an average oncologist sees 70 patients a week vs. 94 in 2019.
Imputing from past statistics on how many visits, including imaging and labs, lead to cancer diagnosis, there are at least 100K cancer patients in the U.S. who have missed their diagnosis. To make matters worse, at its height, close to 80% of cancer surgeries were delayed in 2020. So far this year, oncology prescriptions are still running at 70% of the pre-pandemic levels.
We have made amazing strides in diagnosing and treating cancer. In 2019, 10-year survival rates were 50–80% (depending on cancer type). With the backdrop of lower clinical visits and screening tests, cancer patients will now come to treatment at more advanced stages. This will materially increase our spend on this disease which runs about $150B annually and it will surely cut survival rates.
As preoccupied as we have been with COVID, we should now make it a priority to clear our backlog and go further by boosting cancer services. COVID taught us how to deal with public health crisis. Cancer can not be magicked away. For the 100K patients who have gone undiagnosed, any delay can be matter of life or death. Our approach to these cancer pathways should be more innovative, speedy, flexible and better equipped. After all, reducing suffering and offering higher quality of life, is our moral mandate as an industry.
