CGD in the News

Report: Cancer Is the World's Costliest Disease (Associated Press)

August 19, 2010

The Associated Press cites deputy director of global health Rachel Nugent on the impact of chronic diseases.

From the article:

Cancer is the world's top "economic killer" as well as its likely leading cause of death, the American Cancer Society contends in a new report it will present at a global cancer conference in China this week.

Cancer costs more in productivity and lost life than AIDS, malaria, the flu and other diseases that spread person-to-person, the report concludes.

Chronic diseases including cancer, heart disease and diabetes account for more than 60 percent of deaths worldwide but less than 3 percent of public and private funding for global health, said Rachel Nugent of the Center for Global Development, a Washington-based policy research group.

Read the article