Cancer costs and gender: a snapshot of issues, trends, and opportunities to reduce inequities using Australia as an example

Abstract

As the cancer burden increases, so too does the cost, to health systems, economies, and individuals. There is increasing interest in productivity and out-of-pocket costs for individuals and their carers, but these remain poorly understood. The costs of cancer in women, often carers themselves, are less understood. This summary analysis explored data on the cancer burden in Australia (and health costs in comparable countries), including expenditure reports and literature on macroeconomic outcomes and out-of-pocket costs, to highlight the cost impacts of a cancer diagnosis in women, at a societal and an individual level. Data on productivity costs were skewed toward men, as men are over-represented in paid work compared with women. Data on societal and individual costs of cancer in women were scant, yet the predominance of women in unpaid work suggests the cost is significant. Evidence for the benefits of cancer prevention and early detection suggests that improved targeting of interventions to women would reduce costs at a societal and an individual level. More research is needed on the specific impacts of cancer on women and those they care for, to better target public health and support services to need.

摘要

随着癌症负担的增加, 卫生系统、经济和个人的费用也在增加。针对生产效率、个人及其照料者自付费用的研究越来越多, 但人们对这些问题仍然缺乏了解。照料者自身经常对于女性癌症患者的花费了解甚少。这篇综述分析研究了澳大利亚（以及具有可比性的国家的医疗费用）癌症负担的数据, 包括宏观经济结果及自付费用的支出报告和相关文献, 以突出女性癌症诊断对社会和个人层面的费用影响。与女性相比, 男性在有偿工作中的比例过高, 使得生产效率的数据经常向男性倾斜。有关女性癌症的社会和个人花费的数据很少, 但女性在无薪工作中占主导地位提示花费巨大。关于癌症预防和早期检测益处的证据显示, 改善针对女性的干预措施将从社会和个体层面减少花费。关于癌症对女性及其照料者的确切影响需要进行更多的研究, 以更好地针对需要的公众健康和支持服务。

Keywords:

• Cancer
• cost
• gender
• inequity
• data
• opportunity

Potential conflict of interest

K. Canfell is co-Principal Investigator of an investigator-initiated trial of cytology and primary human papillomavirus screening in Australia (‘Compass’), which is conducted and funded by the Victorian Cytology Service (VCS), a government-funded health promotion charity. The VCS has received equipment and a funding contribution for the Compass trial from Roche Molecular Systems and Ventana Inc. USA. However, neither K. Canfell nor her institution on her behalf (Cancer Council NSW) receives direct funding from industry for this trial or any other project. E. Feletto, P. Grogan, and A. Vassallo have no potential conflicts of interest to declare.

Source of funding

No funding to declare for all authors.