Government

LUXARDO N.

The SAGE Encyclopedia of Cancer and Society, 2nd Edition.

Sage Publicactions

Año: 2015;

The international cancer community drew attention for the responsibilty of governments in developing effective programmes, public policies, convenient legislation and regulation setting with the focus on cancer management at different levels, through policies implemented by the national´s health systems. But cancer is also affected by governmental decisions and practices that are far beyond the reach of medicine and the health system: when regulating the transportation, household and industrial energy, water and waste, housing, education, agriculture and the industry´s production. Political initiatives such as the World Cancer Declaration outlines a common strategy to reduce the global cancer burden by increasing cancer´s visibility on the international political agenda and setting a common strategy. Still in many low-and-middle income countries, cancer is abstent on the political agenda when compared to the visibility and resources given to other diseases such as HIV/AIDS, eventhough enough evidence has demonstrated that low-and-middle income countries endure a double burden of comunicable and non comunicable chronic diseases.             Cancer is today one of the most common health problems in the world, with a burden that represents a crisis for public health and goverments attempt to find responses, basically to cancer control. This strategic approach defines primary prevention, early diagnosis, treatment, palliative care and surveillance as the arenas for current governments´ interventions. A general overview of them will be described below.