Over $46 billion lost to premature cancer deaths in BRICS economies

Premature deaths as a result of cancer is costing major emerging economies tens of billions of dollars a year, a new United Nations health study has found, underlining the need for context-specific strategies for both prevention as well as treatment for those suffering from the disease.

The economic impact of cancer in fast-developing economies not only underlines the high cost of the disease in terms of the lives it claims and the impact on the economy, but also highlights the “urgency of tackling preventable cancers in these countries,” said the study’s lead author, Alison Pearce.

Published in the medical journal Cancer Epidemiology, the study led by the World Health Organization (WHO) cancer research centre reveals that the total cost of lost productivity because of premature cancer mortality for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – collectively known as BRICS countries – was $46.3 billion in 2012 (the most recent year for which cancer data was available for all these countries).

These countries together account for more than 40 per cent the world’s population and a quarter of the global Gross Domestic Product (GDP). However, these countries are also home to 42 per cent of the global cancer deaths.

“Although they have diverse levels of wealth, and health indicators, the BRICS countries have all undergone particularly rapid demographic and economic growth,” noted the WHO International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in a news release announcing the findings.

These countries are all affected by infection-related cancers as well as cancers associated with changing lifestyles such as changes in diet, lack of physical activity, obesity and reproductive patterns.

“Yet each of these countries has a distinct cancer profile, and therefore a tailored approach to national cancer control policy is required,” added IARC.

The largest productivity loss at $28 billion was recorded in China, a country particularly affected by liver cancer, with hepatitis B virus infections and exposure to aflatoxins primary factors for the loss.

Lifestyle-related risk factors in Russia, South Africa and Brazil – high consumption of alcohol, smoking and rapidly increasing obesity, respectively, added to the factors causing losses, noted the study.

In India, the use of chewing tobacco was a leading cause of economic loss due to premature mortality from cancers of the lip and oral cavity.

Policies to influence lifestyle changes and reduce cancer risk are, therefore, critical, highlights IARC.

“The study demonstrates the economic importance of targeted primary prevention activities embedded in national cancer control policies. Focusing on tobacco control, vaccination programmes, and cancer screening, combined with access to adequate cancer treatment, would yield significant health and economic gains for the BRICS countries,” said Christopher Wild, the Director of IARC.

“Investing in evidence-based preventive interventions as a part of national cancer control plans is not only cost-effective and life-saving but also a powerful lever for sustainable economic development.”

Source: UN news

Mutual Direct Investments into the Healthcare Are Promising for the BRICS Countries

The issues of cooperation and interaction in international parliamentary platforms were discussed on the sidelines of the third BRICS Parliamentary Forum that took place on October 14-18, 2017 in the framework of the IPU Assembly in St. Petersburg.

The head of the upper house of the Brazilian Parliament, Eunicia Oliveira urged the BRICS countries to develop channels of mutual direct investments. "An important issue associated with direct investments in our country. We need to work to the investment channels remain open in the future," he said on Saturday, speaking at the Parliamentary Forum of BRICS countries in St. Petersburg (Russia).

Oliveira noted that in respect of Brazil's direct investment in the BRICS has increased from US $162 million in 2005 to several hundred billion dollars in 2016. The volume of mutual trade inside BRICS has been 10 times increased during these 10 years, - he said.

Oliveira called the health, science and energy to be the most promising areas of cooperation between BRICS countries, because "there is the groundwork for the future in these particular areas."

The brazilian parliamentarian urged to work together to solve global problems such as terrorism, cyber-terrorism, propaganda of drugs. "Working together, we can solve the most important problems with a broad agenda," he said.

BRICS, that includes Russia, China, India, Brazil and South Africa, has its own bank with an authorized capital of US$ 200 billion. It has already started working and in the nearest future it plans to finance 7 projects in various fields.

Source: TASS (Telegraph Agency of Russia)

Putin Suggested the BRICS Enhancing Cooperation on Space, Medicine and the Media

The President of Russia Vladimir Putin suggested the BRICS countries should enhance cooperation in the fields of space, health and informational security and to consider the creation of a common TV channel.

 The Russian leader took these initiatives at his speech during the summit in expanded format.

  "Our countries should establish more effective collaboration for space exploration, for example, to reach an agreement on the establishment of the satellite constellation of remote sensing in monitoring climate change, environmental protection and overcoming of consequences of natural disasters and catastrophes," — said Putin.

  "A close cooperation of all five members in the health sector may be useful and effective", — said the President of the Russian Federation.

 "We need to form a BRICS solid legal base in the sphere of international information security, to think about the ways of establishing a cooperation in the media sector, including the possibility of creating a General TV channel to spread objective information about the activities of the BRICS", - he suggested.

Source: RIA Novosti