Global Oral Health Inequalities in Incidence and Outcomes for Oral Cancer: Causes and Solutions
Date
2011-05Author
Johnson, NW
Warnakulasuriya, S
Gupta, PC
Dimba, E
Chindia, M
Otoh, EC
Sankaranarayanan, R
Califano, J
Kowalski, L
Type
ArticleLanguage
enMetadata
Show full item recordAbstract
The mouth and oropharynx are among the ten most common sites affected by cancer worldwide, but global incidence varies widely. Five-year survival rates exceed 50% in only the best treatment centers. Causes are predominantly lifestyle-related: Tobacco, areca nut, alcohol, poor diet, viral infections, and pollution are all important etiological factors. Oral cancer is a disease of the poor and dispossessed, and reducing social inequalities requires national policies co-ordinated with wider health and social initiatives – the common risk factor approach: control of the environment; safe water; adequate food; public and professional education about early signs and symptoms; early diagnosis and intervention; evidence-based treatments appropriate to available resources; and thoughtful rehabilitation and palliative care. Reductions in inequalities, both within and between countries, are more likely to accrue from the application of existing knowledge in a whole-of-society approach. Basic research aimed at determining individual predisposition and acquired genetic determinants of carcinogenesis and tumor progression, thus allowing for targeted therapies, should be pursued opportunistically.
URI
http://adr.sagepub.com/content/23/2/237.shorthttp://erepository.uonbi.ac.ke:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/39299
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21490236
Citation
Johnson, NW , Warnakulasuriya, S ,Gupta, PC, Dimba, E , Chindia, M , Otoh, EC,Sankaranarayanan, R, Califano, J,Kowalski, L , ;Global Oral Health Inequalities in Incidence and Outcomes for Oral Cancer :Causes and Solutionsdoi: 10.1177/0022034511402082, ADR May 2011 vol. 23 no. 2 237-246Publisher
University of Nairobi Faculty of Dental Sciences, University of Nairobi
Collections
- Faculty of Health Sciences (FHS) [10378]