Breaking Down Barriers for an Efficient Cancer Care Ecosystem: A Conversation with Kenji López-Cuevas
All.Can’s ongoing efforts to unite international stakeholders and generate evidence to prioritise cancer care efficiency continue with the launch of a new video featuring Kenji López-Cuevas, President of the Cancer Warriors of Mexico Foundation.
Through a series of interviews, All.Can seeks to capture the perspectives of cancer patients and clinicians, transforming these insights into impactful digital advocacy materials. This initiative aims to make the concept of cancer care efficiency more accessible and actionable, ensuring it is not merely an abstract idea but a real, achievable goal for healthcare systems globally.
In this candid interview, López-Cuevas outlines the major obstacles to efficient cancer care in Mexico, focusing on significant delays in early diagnosis and treatment. Nearly 70-80% of the more than 200,000 new cancer cases diagnosed annually are identified at advanced stages, when treatment is less effective and more costly. This issue stems largely from insufficient investment in early detection and prevention, compounded by a fragmented healthcare system that lacks coordination across its various branches. Despite laws mandating the creation of a national cancer registry, a lack of adequate public funding and institutional collaboration has prevented its full implementation, leaving critical data and treatment coordination gaps.
López-Cuevas stresses the need for a cultural shift in how health expenditure is viewed—moving from seeing it as a cost to recognising it as an investment. By prioritising early detection and prevention, which require lower upfront investment but offer higher returns in terms of patient outcomes and cost savings, Mexico could significantly enhance its cancer care system. He also highlights how the fragmentation of the public health system hinders progress, with different subsystems failing to share best practices and data, further delaying care and increasing inefficiencies.
The insights shared in this interview align with the findings in All.Can Action Guide for Efficient Cancer Care, which emphasises the need to optimise the use of available resources—financial, human, infrastructural, and technological. Efficiency in cancer care is not simply about reducing costs but about delivering meaningful health outcomes for patients.
This video serves as both an informative resource and a call to action for policymakers, healthcare providers, and advocates in Mexico and beyond. By addressing systemic inefficiencies and focusing on early intervention, we can help build a more equitable and efficient cancer care system that meets the needs of all patients.
Watch the video today to learn more and contribute to the ongoing dialogue on improving cancer care globally.