Cancer which used to be a problem in the developed world has now greater impact than any other cause of death worldwide, and it costs the world economy a trillion dollars a year, says a new report. “In 2008, cancer accounted for nearly a trillion dollars in economic losses from premature death and disability,” said the report prepared by the American Cancer Society and LIVESTRONG.

“Death and disability from lung cancer, colorectal cancer and breast cancer account for the largest economic costs on a global scale, and the greatest burden in high income countries,” the report mentioned.

It also reported that cancers of the mouth and oropharynx, cervix and breast have the greatest impact in the low-income countries.
 
The World Health Organisation has already projected that cancer will become the leading cause of death in 2010 followed by heart disease and stroke.

Some of the facts from the report:
•    Cancer accounted for close to one trillion dollars in economic losses from premature death and disability in 2008.
•    The economic burden from cancer, at $895 billion, is nearly 20 percent more than heart disease's toll ($753 billion).
•    These figures do not include direct medical costs, which might double the amounts.
•    The loss of working man-hours and life caused by cancer represents the single largest drain on nations' economies, compared to all other causes of death, including HIV/AIDS, heart disease, and infections, etc.

The report has been written by American Cancer Society researchers Rijo M. John, Ph.D., director of international tobacco control research, and Hana Ross, Ph.D., strategic director of international tobacco control research.

Read the press release