Guest Editorial

The future cost of cancer in South Africa: An interdisciplinary cost management strategy

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K Sartorius, B Sartorius, P S Govender, V Sharma, A Sherriff

Abstract


The exponential rise in cancer costs in South Africa (SA) was illustrated in a recent Sunday Times article entitled ‘The cost of cancer can be a debt sentence’. Our Minister of Health talks of a ‘war’ against the high costs of cancer drugs, and epidemiologists project a sharply rising incidence. Eminent international medical journals, such as The Lancet, underline the fact that cancer cost is a growing international problem that confronts even the richest countries. If richer countries in the world are battling to cover the costs of cancer, what is the prognosis for SA?

Authors' affiliations

K Sartorius, Faculty of Commerce, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa; Public Health Medicine, School of Nursing and Public Health, College of Health Sciences, Nelson R Mandela School of Medicine, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa; Medical Research Council/University of KwaZulu-Natal Gastrointestinal Cancer Research Centre, Durban, South Africa

B Sartorius, Public Health Medicine, School of Nursing and Public Health, College of Health Sciences, Nelson R Mandela School of Medicine, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa; Medical Research Council/University of KwaZulu-Natal Gastrointestinal Cancer Research Centre, Durban, South Africa

P S Govender, Medical Research Council/University of KwaZulu-Natal Gastrointestinal Cancer Research Centre, Durban, South Africa; Inkosi Albert Luthuli Central Hospital, Durban, South Africa; Acting Head of Oncology, School of Clinical Medicine, College of Health Sciences, Nelson R Mandela School of Medicine, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa

V Sharma, Head, Department of Radiation Oncology, Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital and Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa

A Sherriff, Acting Head of Oncology, Universitas Hospital and Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa; and President of the College of Radiation Oncologists, South Africa

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Keywords

Cancer; Treatment; Cost; South Africa

Cite this article

South African Medical Journal 2016;106(10):949-950. DOI:10.7196/SAMJ.2016.v106i10.11375

Article History

Date submitted: 2016-08-05
Date published: 2016-09-06

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