• Evangelia Razis, Marie Kassapian, Charitini Andriakopoulou, Yehoda M Martei, Shalini Jayasekar Zurn, Nazik Hammad, Yannick Romero, Urania Dafni, André M Ilbawi, and Dario Trapani.
• 3rd Department of Medical Oncology, Hygeia Hospital, Athens, Greece. Electronic address: evangelia@razis.net.
• Lancet Oncol. 2022 Mar 1; 23 (3): e144e154e144-154.

AbstractWith the advent of innovative therapeutics for and the rising costs of cancer management, low-income and middle-income countries face increasing challenges to deliver effective and sustainable health care. Understanding of how countries are selecting and prioritising essential cancer interventions is poor, including in the formulation of policies for essential medicines. We did an in-depth subanalysis from a global dataset of national cancer control plans (NCCPs), aiming to identify possible determinants of inclusion of policies related to essential medicines in the NCCP. The results showed poor global comprehensiveness of NCCPs, and substantial deficits in policies for financial hardships due to cancer care, specifically for access to cancer medicines. Specification of budget allocations, policy of protection from catastrophic health expenditure, and national treatment guidelines in the NCCPs contributed to more consistent policies on essential cancer medicines. The bedrock to deliver effective cancer programmes resides in the assurance of comprehensive, consistent, and coherent policy formulation, to orient resource selection and health investments, ultimately delivering equitable health for all.Copyright © 2022 World Health Organization. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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