Within the framework of World Cancer Day, last week, the Sandra Ibarra Foundation warned of a pandemic other than COVID-19, that of cancer. And he claimed the importance of investing in research to stop “any disease” and of establishing a care plan for patients ‘no Covid’
The global pandemic has upended the global world as we knew it. The number of people who died as a result of the SARS-COV-2 infection in the last eleven months and the social and economic impact of the virus “are dramatic.”
In addition, there are thousands of people directly affected by COVID-19 without being carriers of the disease, including cancer patients and survivors, who are not receiving the care they should.
This has been denounced by the Sandra Ibarra Foundation, which has shown its concern about this situation.
“Various studies have found that 21% fewer cancer patients were diagnosed in 2020 compared to the same period of the previous year,” they indicate from the Foundation.
The Foundation urges “not to stand idly by” in the face of the setback in progress against cancer and in the rights of people who face or have overcome this disease.
Greater complications in treatment
According to experts, the saturation of healthcare, together with the special measures adopted, such as the reduction of check-ups and early detection tests, are causing other diseases and needs to be neglected, including those of cancer patients and survivors.
And with each new wave of the virus, the delays are increasing, they say from the Sandra Ibarra Foundation.
Many of these people who are not talked about, they explain, will reach the health system with greater complications in the treatment and prognosis of their disease.
Throwing what has been achieved
Until the arrival of this health crisis, the experts detail, the progress that had been made was “very encouraging.”
Cancer survival had doubled in the last 40 years, standing at 55.3% in men and 61.7% in women.
Every year more than 100,000 people overcome cancer in Spain, where it is estimated that there are already more than two million survivors, indicates the Foundation.
However, the current situation “of abandonment suffered by cancer patients”, for the Foundation may mean throwing away everything that has been achieved.
The losses “are incalculable today, but they translate into human lives. And that a society that seeks the well-being of all cannot afford it ”, they emphasize.
Investing in research
In recent months, professionals have seen how it has begun to give “the value they deserve” to health, solidarity and the humanization of health.
People care more about their well-being and from the Sandra Ibarra Foundation they insist on the “vital importance” of investing in research to stop any disease.
Likewise, the experts detail that, with sufficient investment in human and financial resources, “results can be achieved at surprising rates.”
Cancer as a priority
The Sandra Ibarra Foundation warns of a pandemic situation and not in reference to COVID-19, but to cancer, since more than 250,000 people are diagnosed with cancer each year in Spain.
This entity calls for cancer to be a priority, both in primary care, through fundamental and decisive early detection, and in hospitals.
Because, they reiterate, “there is an urgent need for a ‘no Covid’ care plan for patients, so that cancer patients and survivors do not continue to suffer from two pandemics.”
