Despite recent advances in the treatment of ovarian cancer, it remains one of the most lethal of women’s cancers.
It is reported that nearly 8 million women will die from ovarian cancer by 2050, with the heaviest burden falling on low and middle-income countries where 70% of those diagnosed live, said Clara MacKay, CEO of the World Ovarian Cancer Coalition.
Patients in low- and middle-income countries spend almost twice as much time traveling compared to receiving treatment, resulting in a labor productivity loss equivalent to 2.5 million workdays and leaving over 9,400 women missing from the workforce. Diagnosing and treating ovarian cancer places a greater per capita burden on countries with the least available healthcare resources, as specialist treatments like chemotherapies are significantly more costly compared to basic healthcare services.