Bridging the divide: financing cancer care to achieve true universal health coverage

Marking Universal Health Coverage (UHC) Day on 12 December, Sarbani of the UICC-led Access to Oncology Medicines (ATOM) Coalition writes about how innovative health financing strategies could transform access and equity under UHC in LMICs that face critical gaps in cancer care financing.

The WHO estimates that only 39 per cent of universal health care (UHC) benefit packages worldwide include cancer care, and this falls to 28 per cent when palliative care is included. LMICs bear the most significant gaps in cancer care coverage, constrained by limited public funding and competing health demands.

Financial protection lies at the heart of UHC, whereby all people can benefit from quality health services, and represents one of its ultimate goals, with health financing policies shaping how well people are protected.

Lack of coverage has multiple deadly impacts for households and communities in LMICs. Over 70% of cancer deaths reported by the World Health Organization (WHO) occurring in regions where UHC does not offer financial protection for cancer care. For instance, Africa's cancer mortality-to-incidence ratio (0.67) is double than that in wealthier nations (0.33).

Key factors include funding gaps, which can delay diagnosis and treatment, including access to affordable routine screening to detect cancers earlier. Then treatment costs often push people into poverty or deeper poverty, referred to as financial toxicity.

This is why UICC’s new World Cancer Declaration 2025-2035 includes explicit targets on health financing, notably that by 2035, 50% of countries must include essential cancer services in universal health coverage (UHC) packages.

How can LMICs increase funding for cancer care and move closer toward UHC?

The financing of health systems in LMICs is characterised by a mix of sources, including:

• Government expenditure (through general taxation or earmarked funds);
• Out-of-pocket (OOP) payments by individuals at the point of care, where medical services (including diagnosis, treatment, monitoring, and supportive care) are directly given at the time and place of patient interaction;
• External donour funding and development assistance; and

• Health insurance schemes, both public and private.

  Read more: https://www.uicc.org/news-and-updates/blog/25-12-bridging-divide-financing-cancer-care-achieve-true-universal-health-coverage