Global cancer transitions according to the Human Development Index (2008-2030): a population-based study.

Background: Cancer is set to become a major cause of morbidity and mortality in the coming decades in every region of the world. We aimed to assess the changing patterns of cancer according to varying levels of human development.

Methods: We used four levels (low, medium, high, and very high) of the Human Development Index (HDI), a composite indicator of life expectancy, education, and gross domestic product per head, to highlight cancer-specific patterns in 2008 (on the basis of GLOBOCAN estimates) and trends 1988-2002 (on the basis of the series in Cancer Incidence in Five Continents), and to produce future burden scenario for 2030 according to projected demographic changes alone and trends-based changes for selected cancer sites.

The globalization of tobacco use: 21 challenges for the 21st century.

The globalization of tobacco began more than 500 years ago, but the public health response to the death, disease, and economic disruption that it has caused is fewer than 50 years old. In this report, the authors briefly trace the history of tobacco use and commerce as it moved from the Americas in the late 15th century and then eastward. They then discuss the wide range of issues that must be addressed, and the equally wide range of expertise that is needed if the global health community is to be successful in reducing, and eventually eliminating, the rising tide of tobacco use, particularly in the low- and middle-income nations that are the target of the multinational tobacco industry.

Cancer control in low- and middle-income countries: the role of primary care physicians.

Cancer is among the most preventable and the most curable of the major chronic life-threatening diseases. As the cancer burden grows, it is evident that new approaches must be developed to more effectively manage the disease. Given their unique role, primary care physicians and health workers are critically important to these interventions and to the successful implementation of comprehensive cancer control strategies.