| United Kingdom (UK) [13] |
1939 |
Initially passed to protect patients from quackery in cancer therapies, this Act subsequently provided for National Health System payment for cancer prevention, diagnosis and treatment. Human rights language is not included explicitly. |
| United States of America (US) [14] |
1971 |
Given the high burden of disease, this Act focussed on research, prevention, treatment and cures of for cancer. It established the NCI with dedicated public research funding, of which Cancer Moonshot [15] is an extension. It was passed in the context of a declared ‘War on Cancer’. Health rights are not included in US Constitution and do not feature here. |
| Japan [16] |
2008 |
Japan has a high burden of disease. With civil society advocacy and political commitment, it moved from NCSF to a dedicated act. Health is recognised as a human right in the Constitution. |
| Kenya [17] |
2013 |
Kenya is the first LMIC to develop a national cancer act, which conforms to international norms and standards. The Act is linked with the NCSF and coordinating mechanism (a NCI). It supports the right to health in the Constitution, together with a NHI program. Civil society and patient advocacy organisations were involved in its passage. |
| Philippines [18] |
2019 |
Provides the most extensive scope of all existing cancer acts in terms of defining beneficiaries, protection of vulnerable groups, devolution of responsibilities and overall approach to cancer care. The Act is linked with disability legislation and budgetary provisions, as a result of civil society advocacy. Oversight is established by the National Integrated Cancer Control Council. The right to health is enshrined in the Constitution. |
| Chile [19] |
2020 |
Decrees were issued to support this cancer act, which established the National Cancer Commission, following civil society advocacy due to a high disease burden. Although ‘the right to the protection of health’ was enshrined in Chile’s first Constitution (1925), and retained in subsequent versions, the current constitution effectuated under the Pinochet regime in 1980 is ‘tainted by authoritarianism from its origin, and promotes a subsidiary role of the state in health’ [20]. Although a National Health Fund is in place, inequities persist [21]. |
| LMIC: low and middle income country |
