Changing the paradigm of cancer control in cuba

Cuba's National Cancer Registry records 29,000 new cases of cancer annually, some 50% of which are among persons living in the western provinces, and 55% among persons aged ≥65 years.[1] Cancer in Cuba is associated with a rapidly aging population and risk factors linked to certain social determinants of health-both social conditions and lifestyles. At current rates of growth, incidence is projected to reach 30,000 cases by 2010. Despite significant development of Cuba's universal public health system, national cancer programs, biomedical research, and oncology and related medical fields, cancer incidence and mortality continue to climb in the Cuban population of 11.2 million. This contrasts with generally decreasing adjusted mortality from heart and cerebrovascular disease-the other killers in the top-mortality triad. If these trends continue, cancer will soon become the number one cause of death in Cuba, a status it already claims in 8 of the country's 14 provinces.[1].