Cancer care during war and conflict

Abstract

The Arab World has sadly witnessed protracted conflict affecting several of its regions in recent years. Conflict-affected populations have been significantly impacted by chronic deficiencies in medical care including unprecedented numbers of refugees and migrants requiring ongoing support in neighbouring countries. Humanitarian response to crisis has historically focused on the supply of nutrition, water, and emergent trauma relief, followed by control and prevention of infections. Prevention and management of non-communicable diseases, specifically cancer, have been relatively neglected; however, with regional conflicts lasting for many years, cancer care has become an increasingly urgent issue to be addressed. The humanitarian community has stressed the need for situational assessment regarding disease prevalence and available resources, with identification of specific regional challenges. Lack of infrastructure, important diagnostic and treatment modalities, clinical experts and regulatory bodies are the main obstacles to cancer care at all stages from screening and prevention to therapeutics and palliation. The initial step to improving cancer care provision should be implementing needs-based priority assessment and policies within the context of governing bodies that control and monitor performance. Collaboration and coordination among national and international organizations and stakeholders are essential to improve data collection on which to base resource allocation and address growing disparities in cancer outcomes.