Cancers, health and economy - parts of Pandora´s box?

In 2008 (Globocan 2008; IARC), 12.663 million new cancer cases occurred worldwide and, of them, 2.445 million in the EU. Of 7.565 million global

cancer deaths, nearly 1.235 million cases were in the EU, and from five-year cancer prevalence estimates of 28.8 million worldwide, almost 6.617

million concerned the EU. The cancer prevalence statistics included: breast, 18 %; colorectum, 11%; prostate, 11 %; lungs, 6 %; stomach, 5.5 %;

cervix, 5.5 %; bladder, 4 %; uterus, 4 % round the world; and breast, 20 %; colorectum, 14 %; prostate, 18 %; lungs, 5 %; melanoma, 4 %; kidney,

3 %; uterus, 3 %; and NH lymphoma, 3 % in the EU. In 2030 the expected number can reach more than 21 million worldwide, 3 million in the EU

and 93,000 new cases in the Czech Republic (all sites ICD-10: C00-D09). Here preliminary total health care expenditures in 2011 were 288,572

million CZK; of these, health insurance companies covered 217,653 million, with 19,217 million per one cancer treatment. Between 1990 and

2011, the total health expenditures increased by 257,534 million CZK, accounting for 7.58 % of the gross domestic product. In 2010 the General

Health Insurance Company paid on average 19,030 CZK for the treatment of one cancer case, with the highest expenditures for neoplasms of

the lymphoid and haemotopoietic tissues, brain and central nervous system, digestive organs, oral cavity and pharynx, and respiratory organs.

The global economic performance cannot provide enough resources for public health care. The Czech public debt exceeded 1,680 billion CZK

at the time this article was written. Although out-of-pocket money paid by cancer patients for treatment is growing, the continuing public

indebtedness is likely to increase debts of hospitals and health insurance companies. The estimated growing numbers of cancer patients and

related costs of their treatment call for consistent cancer prevention measures and effective allocation and utilization of health care resources.

Keywords: malignant neoplasms, expected numbers, economic indicators in the population and health care