A Global Check-In: How Countries Plan to Prevent Oral Cancer

Ever wondered how countries around the globe are tackling oral and oropharyngeal cancer? A recent look into national and subnational plans from all World Health Organization Member States gives us some insights. As of March 2023, out of 194 countries, only a few had specific subnational plans, resulting in a total of 264 political entities with revised plans. Interestingly, about half of these plans – 124 to be exact – took oral and oropharyngeal cancer risk factors and preventive measures into account. This included 73 national and 51 subnational plans, spreading across 76 countries. Southeast Asia led the pack with most regions mentioning oral cancer risk factors, followed by the Americas. The Western Pacific and Eastern Mediterranean regions, however, had the least coverage.

Tobacco use topped the list of discussed risk factors, with HPV infection and alcohol consumption following suit. When it came to early detection strategies, opportunistic examination came out on top, followed by screening in high-risk individuals, self-examination, and lastly, population-based screening. Though oral cancer cases are high in many countries, most cancer plans only touched on this issue indirectly, with a wide range of preventive strategies. It’s worth noting that missing data in available documents doesn’t mean there’s no policy in place – other documents might exist but weren’t available online.

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