Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cancer care in OECD countries

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted primary and secondary prevention efforts as well as routine care related to the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. The number of cancer-related procedures declined across countries, as much as 40% in some of the reporting countries. Many of the OECD countries also faced challenges in maintaining and further improving cancer care quality and outcomes during the pandemic. This paper compiles initial findings as well as emerging evidence from a subset of OECD countries covering the period from March 2020 to August 2021. It illustrates how several of these countries attempted to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on cancer care systems. There have been examples of adapting…

• MO
  Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare