© Provided by The iDemand for cancer surgery is expected to increase from 9.1 million to 13.8 million procedures over the next 20 years (Photo: Reuters)
Demand for cancer surgery is expected to increase from 9.1 million to 13.8 million procedures over the next 20 years, requiring a huge increase in the workforce including nearly 200,000 additional surgeons and 87,000 anaesthetists around the world.
The greatest relative increase will occur in 34 low-income countries, where the number of cases requiring surgery is expected to more than double by 2040 - from 314,000 cases to 650,000.
A separate study found that a patient's chances of surviving after cancer surgery dramatically improves with higher standards of post-operation hospital care.
Poorest nations lack aftercare
Research by the universities of Edinburgh and Birmingham found patients in low and lower middle-income countries are up to six times more likely to die from complications within 30 days of surgery, compared to those in high-income countries.
© Provided by The iIn the largest study of its kind, the researchers looked at nearly 16,000 patients in 428 hospitals across 82 countries who underwent surgery for breast, bowel and stomach cancer (Photo: AP)
In the largest study of its kind, the researchers looked at nearly 16,000 patients in 428 hospitals across 82 countries who underwent surgery for breast, bowel and stomach cancer between April 2018 and January 2019.
They found hospitals in low and lower-middle income countries are less likely to have post-surgery facilities or care plans in place.
Investing in appropriate recovery and ward space, trained staff, early warning systems and critical care facilities would result in much improved surgical care and reduce the number of deaths, the experts said. Around 80 per cent of cancer patients undergo surgery as part of their treatment.
More resource needed
Complications following surgery are common, but the researchers found that hospitals providing a high standard of post-operative care have the best outcomes - even when treating late stage cancers.
The findings of the two studies, published in The Lancet and The Lancet Oncology, highlight an urgent need to improve cancer surgery provision in low- and middle income countries, while also scaling-up their workforces in order to cope with increasing demand.
Professor Ewen Harrison, professor of surgery and data science at the University of Edinburgh, said: "Rich and poor countries alike have talented surgeons and anaesthesiologists, but low resource countries do not have the infrastructure to support the complications that occur during surgery. We now know this can have a major impact on whether or not a patient survives."