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ESSO 44 | Global disparities in surgical oncology
Gabrielle van Ramshorst, MD, PhD, Ghent University Hospital, Ghent, Germany, discusses the disparities in access to surgical oncology care and techniques globally, highlighting the efforts of international partner societies to address these disparities, such as the introduction of laparoscopic surgery in Brazil and training programs in Ethiopia. Prof. van Ramshorst emphasizes the need for high-income countries to support middle and low-income countries in achieving the highest impact globally, particularly in the context of varying access to technologies like MSI testing and colonoscopies. This interview took place at the 44th Congress of the European Society of Surgical Oncology (ESSO 44) in Gothenburg, Sweden.
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Transcript
I think that is a very broad question, and it really depends on your perspective. So as the chair of the International Committee of the Society of Surgical Oncology right now, I interact with many different global partner societies, which range from Taiwan to Japan to India to Brazil. And if you, for instance, look at the needs in Brazil, it was due to the efforts of the current president of the Brazilian Society of Surgical Oncology, Rodrigo Perez, that the government has now, for the first time, allowed for laparoscopic surgery to be used in the public healthcare system...
I think that is a very broad question, and it really depends on your perspective. So as the chair of the International Committee of the Society of Surgical Oncology right now, I interact with many different global partner societies, which range from Taiwan to Japan to India to Brazil. And if you, for instance, look at the needs in Brazil, it was due to the efforts of the current president of the Brazilian Society of Surgical Oncology, Rodrigo Perez, that the government has now, for the first time, allowed for laparoscopic surgery to be used in the public healthcare system. And this, of course, will make great changes for a large part of the Brazilian population that is not wealthy enough to choose private surgery. So I think that type of effort just shows that there’s a lot of disparity in the world. And I’m not even talking about an introduction, for instance, of laparoscopic surgery in Africa. My colleague from Ethiopia, he’s been starting to use laparoscopic surgery. We’ve been training him in Ghent University Hospital as well. So it’s very different from the setting in Northwestern Europe, where I’m working professionally, where maybe in some countries in Europe, they would have less access to, for instance, MSI testing. And as we’ve learned yesterday from our presentations from our Swedish colleagues, it is that even routine colonoscopies here in Sweden don’t usually only provide it in the screening cancer program from the age of 60. Whereas we know that the rise of early onset cancer means that in many countries they are lowering the bar for having colonoscopies until the age of 45. So it depends on what your perspective is and what your working setting is, but I do feel that we, working in high-income countries, should help those in the middle and low-income countries so we can help them to achieve the highest impact globally.
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