Advertisement feature presented by UICC

According to Sonali Johnson, Head of Knowledge, Advocacy and Policy at the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC), many health systems currently operate using a top-down approach. This makes them more rigid and structured,allowing little room for adaptation or change, creating the possibility that the needs of patients, providers and communities are not fully addressed. 

A necessary pivot, according to the WHO, is to design health systems for people rather than merely focused on treating the disease. This would allow for a renewed focus on how services are delivered, it believes.

By 2027, the Lancet Global Health Commission on People-Centered Care for Universal Health Coverage aims to publish its findings on how best to reconfigure health systems worldwide. They aim to ensure that they serve and engage with the people they’re designed for in a more effective, inclusive and comprehensive way.  

“People-centred cancer care is about moving away from just focusing on treating the disease to looking at the person and their experience, their needs, their values, and their preferences. The way cancer shows up is different for everyone, and their care should reflect that,” says Johnson.

Culturally-sensitive health promotion, for example, which responds to individuals’ particular concerns about cancer beyond the disease, is a crucial aspect of people-centred care. Professor Ari Syam, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Indonesia, a UICC member organisation, believes that better health education, for instance, can help properly manage the taboo and fear around a cancer diagnosis, which contribute to heightened stress and diminished quality of life, and undermines treatment adherence and recovery. 

“If someone has not had access to the right information, either through lack of schooling or access to health professionals, they ask why we need to do chemotherapy after surgery,” he explains. “They think that surgery means everything is finished. Sometimes, they’ll refuse the next stage of treatment. This is another factor as to why [our rates of cancer] are so high.”