Closing care gap for cancer patients possible in Pakistan

Dr Aasim Yusuf

World Cancer Day is marked on February 4th each year by the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) with the aim to create awareness around the disease and treatment options. This year, the theme of the campaign is “Close the Care Gap”, which focusses on addressing disparities in cancer care. The UICC reports that nearly 70 percent of deaths due to cancer occur in low- and middle- income countries, such as Pakistan.
Dr Aasim Yusuf, acting CEO of Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centres (SKMCH&RC), remarked, “Cancer patients in our region face numerous challenges in accessing care, including a paucity of cancer facilities, having to travel long distances to receive care and, most importantly, the prohibitively high cost of treatment, in particular of cancer chemotherapy drugs. However, over the past twenty-seven years, we have demonstrated that closing the care gap for cancer patients in Pakistan is possible.”
Commenting on the role of Shaukat Khanum Hospitals in closing the care gap, Dr Yusuf added, “While there are still many healthcare challenges in our country, we remain committed to playing our part in ‘Closing the Care Gap’ for cancer patients. At our hospitals, we evaluate disease, rather than financial status when offering treatment and provide the same high standard of care to all our patients. Each year, we provide top-quality cancer treatment entirely free of charge to over 75 percent of our patients. Recognising that where you live must not determine if you live, we built our second hospital in Peshawar as nearly 30 percent of patients at our Lahore hospital belonged to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and surrounding areas who previously had to overcome various obstacles in order to access treatment. Now we have undertaken the gargantuan task of building our third, and Pakistan’s largest, cancer hospital in Karachi, which is expected to open at the end of 2023. This new hospital will mark a new age in cancer diagnosis and treatment for people from all over Sindh and from Southern Baluchistan.”
This year on the 4th of February, UICC is also organising a full day of streaming live content via social media. The live event will feature participants leading the battle against cancer around the world, including cancer survivors and members of the global cancer community. SKMCH &RC is the only representative from Pakistan to the global platform this year and will be featured in the live content session on Friday.