Cancer is one of the most painful, lethal, and widespread diseases in the world. According to the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), in 2020, the new cases of cancer increased to 19.3 million from 17 million in 2018. Additionally, the disease caused 10 million deaths in 2020 compared to 9.5 million in 2018. Moreover, the agency reports that 1 in 5 are prone to developing cancer in their lifetime and the number is larger in men. The most common type of cancer among women is found to be breast cancer while lung cancer is the most common in men.
According to an Economist Intelligence Unit report, cancer is responsible for direct or indirect economic costs of over $1 trillion per year. According to the report, between 2018 and 2040, the rise in lethal disease can reach up to 63% due to the aging population. The report further states that 59% of cases are reported in lower- and middle-income countries. However, due to the lower rate of cancer preparedness and access to better healthcare, 71% of the deaths are reported in those countries.
Oncology is one of the biggest and fastest growing sectors for biopharmaceuticals R&D. According to Precedence Research, the global oncology market was worth over $286 billion and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 8.2% by 2030 to $581.25 billion with the hospital segment expected to grow at a CAGR of 10.9% between the forecasted period. In 2021, the diagnostic segment covered close to 47% of the oncology market share.
According to a report by IQVIA, cancer medicine spending in 2021 was around $185 billion in 2021 and it is expected to reach $300 billion by 2026. The US was reported to be the largest market for cancer medicine spending in 2021 followed by some European countries. The report adds that as of 2022, close to 2200 oncology-related products were under development and 63% of them were being developed by emerging biopharma companies that had less than $500 million in annual sales and their research and development spending was less than $200 per annum. While the emerging companies have been increasing their product pipeline, the large pharmaceutical companies’ oncology product pipeline is seen to be decreasing. The large pharma companies with over $10 billion in annual sales covered 23% of the products under development which is down from 39% in 2016.
In this article, we discuss the 15 best countries for cancer treatment. If you want to skip our analysis of the oncology market, go directly to the 5 Best Countries for Cancer Treatment.
Cancer is one of the most painful, lethal, and widespread diseases in the world. According to the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), in 2020, the new cases of cancer increased to 19.3 million from 17 million in 2018. Additionally, the disease caused 10 million deaths in 2020 compared to 9.5 million in 2018. Moreover, the agency reports that 1 in 5 are prone to developing cancer in their lifetime and the number is larger in men. The most common type of cancer among women is found to be breast cancer while lung cancer is the most common in men.
According to an Economist Intelligence Unit report, cancer is responsible for direct or indirect economic costs of over $1 trillion per year. According to the report, between 2018 and 2040, the rise in lethal disease can reach up to 63% due to the aging population. The report further states that 59% of cases are reported in lower- and middle-income countries. However, due to the lower rate of cancer preparedness and access to better healthcare, 71% of the deaths are reported in those countries.
Oncology is one of the biggest and fastest growing sectors for biopharmaceuticals R&D. According to Precedence Research, the global oncology market was worth over $286 billion and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 8.2% by 2030 to $581.25 billion with the hospital segment expected to grow at a CAGR of 10.9% between the forecasted period. In 2021, the diagnostic segment covered close to 47% of the oncology market share.
According to a report by IQVIA, cancer medicine spending in 2021 was around $185 billion in 2021 and it is expected to reach $300 billion by 2026. The US was reported to be the largest market for cancer medicine spending in 2021 followed by some European countries. The report adds that as of 2022, close to 2200 oncology-related products were under development and 63% of them were being developed by emerging biopharma companies that had less than $500 million in annual sales and their research and development spending was less than $200 per annum. While the emerging companies have been increasing their product pipeline, the large pharmaceutical companies’ oncology product pipeline is seen to be decreasing. The large pharma companies with over $10 billion in annual sales covered 23% of the products under development which is down from 39% in 2016.
Some of the major stocks that are involved in oncology services and R&D are Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN), Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE:BMY), and Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)
15 Best Countries for Cancer Treatment
15 Best Countries for Cancer Treatment
Methodology
During our research of the “25 Best Hospitals for Cancer Treatment,” we produced this list according to the number of best cancer hospitals in each country. We also took the 5-year survival rate of various types of cancer as a marker of quality cancer care. To better judge the quality of cancer treatment in each country, factors like treatment costs, prevention policies, cancer-related spending, availability of innovative treatments, accessibility to medical equipment and oncology specialists, hospitals, and the impact of the healthcare system are also taken into consideration.
Best Countries for Cancer Treatment
15. India
India is one of the best countries for cancer treatment due to the advanced technology used by the hospitals in the country and the ease of access to its hospitals. Hospitals such as Tata Memorial Center also offer free-of-cost treatment for most of their patients who cannot afford it. Furthermore, the country’s Chennai Apollo Hospital is the only hospital in South Asia that offers proton therapy.
14. Netherlands
The Netherlands is one of the few countries in the EU where cancer mortality has decreased notably over the last decade, with an 11% decrease seen between 2011 and 2019. In 2020, the Netherlands’ expenditure on cancer prevention was higher than that of the EU’s average as it was 4.6% of current health spending while the EU’s average was only 3.4%.
The country places emphasis on early detection which is why it has three national screening programs for breast, cervical, and colorectal cancers. The Netherlands has a high density of radiotherapy centers and advanced CAR-T cell treatments are offered through eight centers. A few of the reasons behind the admirable cancer care quality are the rigorous clinical auditing system and the research-based Netherlands Cancer Registry which indirectly contributes to policymaking and more.
13. Sweden
Sweden ranks on the list of 15 best countries for cancer treatment because of its advancement in innovative cancer treatments, widespread use of interdisciplinary teams, and establishment of cancer treatment centers in regional areas. The 5-year survival rates in Sweden are impressive with breast cancer survival rates at 89%, prostate cancer at 91%, and childhood leukemia survival rates stand at 89%.
The population is covered by the government for healthcare services. The estimated cost of one visit to a primary care facility is between €10 and €30, a specialized care facility visit can cost anywhere from €20 to €40 while the cost of prescription drugs is capped at €240. An important factor behind quality cancer care is the relevant authority’s focus on health registries with 30 quality registries focusing on cancer.
12. China
In 2020, China was home to almost 20% of the global cancer patients. Over the last decade, China has worked to create its own versions of cancer drugs that have been highly effective and have decreased the cancer mortality rate in the country by nearly 10% between 2009 and 2019. Peking University Cancer Hospital & Institute and Fuda Cancer Hospital are some of the best hospitals for cancer treatment in the country.
11. Brazil
According to a research study published in 2022, Brazil’s spending on cancer every year is estimated to be around $3.57 billion by the private and public healthcare systems. Around 78% of the Brazilian population relies on the public healthcare system and the spending on cancer in the specific healthcare system is around $800 million per year.
11. Iceland
In 2019, the total mortality rate because of cancer was 5% lower in Iceland than the EU’s average with 235 deaths per 100,000 population in the country and the cancer mortality rate for men was 15% lower.
Cancer care quality is continuously being improved within the country and decentralization plays an important part in improving the accessibility of treatment. Landspitali University Hospital and regional hospitals like Akureyri Hospital are important players in cancer care. The availability of medical equipment in Iceland is better than the EU’s average with the radiation therapy equipment ratio being 1.9 per 1,000 cases of cancer.
9. Australia
According to the Australian government’s stats, around 70% of people with cancer live at least 5 years past their diagnosis in the country. A report published in 2023 titled ‘Cancer Research in Australia: an Overview of Funding for cancer Research Projects and Programs in Australia, 2012 to 2020’ by Cancer Australia estimated that $2.12 billion were spent on 4,813 research projects and initiatives between 2012 and 2020. Moreover, 58% of the funding was done by the Australian government.
The Peter Maccallum Cancer Centre is a celebrated cancer care hospital located in Melbourne. The hospital is well-known as it not only provides innovative cancer treatment but also does cancer research and offers oncology training.
8. France
France is considered one of the top progressing countries in terms of cancer care and treatment with Institut Gustave Roussy known as the most famous hospital for cancer treatment. The country is considered the best destination in terms of opting for novel cancer treatments because of the high approval rate of new treatments by the National Authority for Health. In 2020, the number of patients treated with immunotherapy was higher than 50,000 and 230 were treated through the chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy.
Launched in 2021, the National Cancer Strategy 2021-2030 has funding of €1.74 billion. The goals of the plan are in line with those of Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan and aim to reduce the number of avoidable cancers by 60 000 yearly by 2040 and carry out one million additional screening tests by 2025.
7. Canada
In January 2023, the government announced $23 million in funding to set up the first-ever Canadian Pediatric Cancer Consortium (CPCC). The funding by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) is one of many rounds of funding as the federal agency has spent around $1 billion in cancer research between 2017 and 2021.
Cancer treatment in Canada is often lauded because new research in cancer treatment is rapidly developing innovative treatment options. In February 2023, the announcement of a unique immunotherapy developed by the National Research Council of Canada was brought to the public. The novel CAR-T cell therapy is proposed to enroll patients in clinical trials in the second half of 2023.
6. Japan
Japan is one of the most technologically advanced countries in the world which also gives it an edge over other countries in cancer treatment. The country ranks at number 2 in the world for stomach and lung cancer survival rates. In 2021, Daiichi Sankyo a Japanese drug company received approval for Teserpaturev, Japan’s first virotherapy drug. It is still in the trial phases. However, in the phase 2 trial, the drug showed a one-year survival rate of 84.2% in patients suffering from glioblastoma.
5. Germany
In all of the EU, Germany is said to have among the highest number of medical needs met. The country is well-known for cancer treatments as it lays claims to some of the best cancer specialists in the world, quality cancer research, and unique treatments owing to the advancement in research and having abundant resources. The biggest hospital in all of Europe is Charité University Hospital in Berlin which has many centers dedicated specifically to cancer treatment, including the Skin Cancer Center, the European Competence Center for Ovarian Cancer, the Interdisciplinary Intestinal Tumour Center, and the Interdisciplinary Prostate Cancer Center.
Germany has one of the best rates for cancer screening in the region while the accessibility of service, concerning the inpatient case rate per 100,000 population, is among the highest in the EU for all types of cancer.
4. Norway
Norway is one of the countries that offer universal health coverage to all its citizens and has the lowest amount of patient copayments which are responsible for less than 15% of the total healthcare cost. Moreover, the country takes a spot on the list of best countries for cancer treatment because the frequency of locals opting for private hospitals for cancer treatment is rare which is evidence of a strong healthcare system.
Many prefer Norway over other countries for cancer treatment because the country has many initiatives developing to integrate precision medicine into the healthcare system. In addition, new treatments are streamlined through the European Medicine Agency and National System for Managed Introduction of New Health Technologies and are covered under the universal healthcare system.
Lastly, Norway has 11.3 radiotherapy centers per 1 million citizens, significantly higher than the average of 8.9 radiotherapy centers per million in the EU.
3. Finland
In the EU, Finland has some of the best cancer survival rates. In 2019, the survival rate of Finland stood at 215 deaths per 100,000 population and the EU’s figure was 247 per 100,000 people. The country is ranked 6th and 7th in global survival rates for breast and prostate cancer.
The low mortality rate can be attributed to various factors including the country’s emphasis on new policies to prevent cancer like the Act on Screening 2022 which promotes early screening for specific cancer types and the national human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination program for children aged 10-12.
For cancer care, the country has 10.3 radiation centers per 1000,000 people compared to the EU’s 8.9. Lastly, Finland is speeding up cancer research through the Genome Centre Act and The Finnish National Study to Facilitate Patient Access to Targeted Anti-cancer Drugs (FINPROVE).
2. Belgium
Belgium has high survival rates for the main types of cancer with 85.4% for breast cancer and 92.6% for prostate cancer. Belgium is one of the EU countries where the number of practicing doctors has been increasing rapidly, the number of nurses is more than the average number of nurses in the rest of the EU, and the graduate pool has been growing steadily. As of 2020, the country had 3,147 oncology nurses and 44 hematology and pediatric oncology physicians.
The country’s number of radiotherapy centers is higher than that of the rest of the EU at 9.9 centers per million inhabitants and its residents have access to high-tech proton beam therapy as Leuven Kankerinstituut started accepting patients in 2020.
1. United States of America
There has been an increased focus on improving cancer care which has consequently increased the survival rate. According to the latest data, the overall 5-year survival rate for cancer in the U.S. is 64% with the breast cancer rate at 83%, the prostate cancer survival rate at 97%, and the testis cancer rate at 92%.
In order to reduce the overall cancer care burden, the government allocates certain funding to curb the factors that contribute to increased cancer cases. Hence, the excise tax on cigarettes is increased from time to time, and as of 2021, the average tax of states is $1.91 per pack.
A study published in 2022 identified that the U.S. spent nearly $200 billion on cancer care in 2020 and the mortality rate was 86.3 deaths per 100,000 patients. To further the fight against cancer and improve treatment, the fiscal year 2022 Omnibus Appropriations bill was signed in March 2022 and allocated funding of $6.9 billion for the National Cancer Institute (NCI).