Cancer in the Americas: Country Profiles 2013
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Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the countries of the Americas, yet there is limited information available on how each country in this Region is responding to this public health problem. The recent global and regional commitments on noncommunicable diseases (NCD), including cancer, have called attention to the need for more available and accurate information on the country situation with respect to epidemiological status of NCDs and the capacity for public health programs for prevention and control. Furthermore, the World Health Organization (WHO) global monitoring framework includes specific indicators related to cancer, and which require on-going monitoring and reporting on global progress towards NCD. Meanwhile, the Member States of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) provide annual mortality statistics, as well as information about their NCD programs and services through the national capacity survey of NCD programs. The purpose of Cancer in the Americas: Country Profiles 2013 is to disseminate data made available to the Pan American Health Organization by its Member States on the current state of cancer risk factors, cancer mortality, and cancer plans, policies and services. The objective is to synthesize, in one reference document, the state of cancer control in countries in the Americas. Cancer incidence data are, unfortunately, not provided in this report, as this information is not available to the Pan American Health Organization in a systematic manner. |