Social Sciences and Economics in Oncology
摘要
Social science in cancer care is gaining recognition, because the cancer care right from prevention and screening to cancer diagnosis and management, and then in situations of terminal and end-of-life care, becomes integral to the sociogeographic, ethno-cultural and financial conditions of the country, region and its citizens. In this chapter we describe the inequality in access to cancer care treatment; how the financing of cancer care leads to poor affordability and financial toxicity for the poor. We outline,what can be done both at the physician level and the government level to remove these inequities, make standard treatment both accessible and affordable for the majority of the economically weaker population, thus saving lives and improving outcomes. In the process, communication, social support and research should be encouraged in LMIC for the vast majority of our cancer patients.