Gvantsa Khizanishvili, Global Programme and Partnerships Manager at City Cancer Challenge, shared on LinkedIn:
“Is it time to completely rewrite how we talk about cancer in women?
This was a main topic of my recent episode of Global Health Unpacked with Dr. MAIRA CALEFFI , she laid out a compelling case for why cancer care is not just a medical issue – it is a critical driver of human capital and global GDP.
Three major shifts we discussed if we want to turn the tide:
- Look Beyond ‘Women’s Cancers’ The conversation around Cancer in Women is still too often centered on breast and cervical cancer. The traditional focus on maternal health, breast, and cervical cancers leaves a massive vulnerability. Women are frequently falling ill and dying from lung, colorectal, gastric, and pancreatic cancers. We must analyze how sex, gender, income, and social status impact risk and diagnosis for all cancer types.
- Speak the Language of Finance Ministries – Health is the foundation of productivity. When a woman falls ill, families face a double crisis of lost income and reduced caregiving capacity (especially since women perform roughly 75% of unpaid care work). It can affect income, employment, caregiving, children and the economic stability of an entire household. By closing the global women’s health gap, we could add $1 trillion annually to the global economy by 2040. Healthcare advocates must start measuring avoided premature deaths and preserved productive years to engage ministries of finance and development banks.
- Stop ‘Talking to Ourselves’ Cancer control cannot stay siloed within healthcare communities. We need multisectoral partnerships that connect global standard – setters like World Health Organization, Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) and local implementers like City Cancer Challenge (C/Can) with non-traditional allies: ministries of finance, labor, private companies, and the technology sector.
It is time to move from advocacy to action. Protecting women from cancer is not simply a healthcare expenditure. It is an investment in families, communities, human capital and economic resilience.
And perhaps that is the shift in framing we now need.
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