The value of public-private partnerships to advancing cancer control

Ahead of World Cancer Congress, Cary Adams of UICC and Michael Oberreiter of Roche write about the critical role of public-private partnerships in advancing cancer care, improving access to diagnosis and treatment, and addressing global disparities, particularly for underserved populations, through innovative and collaborative solutions.

Over the past 50 years the healthcare community has collectively made significant progress on cancer. More people are surviving cancer than ever before thanks to advances in how we detect, diagnose, treat and manage the disease. Our understanding of the molecular mechanisms of cancer has also advanced leaps and bounds. Rather than treating cancer as a single disease, we now recognise there are more than 200 types with different behaviours, rates of growth and progression – each presenting new opportunities for targeted treatment  approaches.[1]

Yet, despite these momentous achievements, we still have much work to do. The rate of improvement in cancer survival has slowed in recent years, and cancer remains the second leading cause of death worldwide.

Too many people are still having to wait too long for their cancer to be diagnosed and treated, with barriers to accessing best practice preventative screenings, diagnostic technologies and innovative cancer treatments disproportionately affecting individuals of lower socio-economic status (SES).  As a result, they typically have worse outcomes compared to those of higher SES.[2] [3] [4]

This is against the backdrop of significant global challenges. Spanning political shifts, changes in demographics as our population ages, and economic and environmental pressures, it is obvious that health systems all over the world are impacted. Globally, we see health care systems are struggling to meet demand.

It is critical to ensure cancer care remains a priority, and that we progress further in the quest to prevent and cure cancer in all its forms. At UICC and Roche we recognise that no one organisation, company, country, intervention or individual can deliver this alone. That’s why we see partnership with governments, public health authorities, advocacy networks, civil society  and other stakeholders as vital to addressing current barriers to cancer care access and innovation.

Uniting our unique strengths to accelerate cancer progress

Private companies, including pharmaceutical companies such as Roche, and non-government organisations such as UICC, can be viewed as opposite ends of a spectrum in the public consciousness. Despite this, we frequently share a common purpose when it comes to delivering against global health challenges such as cancer. United by a common goal, we each bring individual strengths which, when combined, can deliver meaningful change. Private sector involvement can offer access to technical, scientific and strategic resources at a scale that might otherwise be out of reach.

Public sector bodies in turn bring unrivalled insights on health delivery, supporting to develop and implement national cancer control plans and bringing together influential networks of advocates to ensure that global leaders implement solutions that are shaped to the people they seek to serve.

Uniting these unique strengths and capabilities can lead to scalable, sustainable cancer care solutions across the full care pathway that we couldn’t otherwise reach alone. For example, funding truly effective on-the-ground cancer education and prevention strategies, working together to integrate screening programmes and early detection services into national cancer plans, exploring the benefits that innovative technologies such as artificial intelligence can have on workforce utilisation and even inspiring and empowering health system stakeholders to drive improvements in the efficiency of cancer care delivery within their unique contexts.

Partnership is also vital when developing and delivering innovations in treatment, ensuring that when we shape research programmes, we do so with a clear understanding of the patient journeys and treatment pathway at their heart. Importantly, in addition to advancing cancer diagnosis and treatment, public-private partnerships can also deliver social innovation, working to address lingering gaps and inequalities in how the needs and experiences of lower SES and minority group individuals are reflected in cancer services, so that care for all truly means all.

The value of investing together to deliver the future of cancer care

Public-private partnerships offer a powerful route forward to meet the growing global demand for improved cancer care, but they form only part of the solution. We also need to rethink the way we define and measure value in cancer care so that amidst rising global pressures on healthcare systems and spending we can be confident that we are investing in the programmes and interventions that can deliver the biggest impact.

Cancer, with its high rates of mortality and long-term health impact, represents a significant drain on national health system resources, and a costly reduction in workforce and  productivity.[5]  The annual global economic cost of cancer is estimated to exceed USD1 trillion.[6] The cost of not investing in cancer solutions is therefore likely to far outstrip the cost of investment, with the WHO estimating that for every dollar spent per person, per year on prevention and control measures for NCDs – including cancer – that investment will yield a return of USD7.[7] 

When we talk about value, however,  we must also consider this in the context of wider societal wellbeing. We know all too well that cancer can have a potentially devastating impact on the wellbeing, financial security and quality of life of individuals and their families. An essential focus of our collective efforts in cancer care is recognising the full breadth of value that innovation in cancer care can bring and ultimately reducing this burden on individuals and carers, improving population quality of life.

This is vital work, and work we must continue to do together, fostering open dialogue and encouraging innovative partnership approaches. Later this month, UICC will host the World Cancer Congress.  We look forward to exchanging knowledge, and to listening and learning from partners from across the spectrum of the cancer community. Working together, we can continue to deliver the solutions that best fit the needs of those facing cancer, ultimately reducing the global burden of cancer for individuals, their families, and our wider health systems and societies.