Joshua Omale, Pediatric Oncology Advocate, Innovation Council Member at Coalition Against Childhood Cancer (CAC2), shared a post on LinkedIn:
“Cancer stage at diagnosis is not only biological. It is financial!
Health financing models quietly shape the timeline of disease discovery.
In systems where:
- diagnostic tests require huge out-of-pocket payment
- each referral introduces new costs
- pricing is unclear or unpredictable
The rational response is delay.
Families assess risk, not only of disease, but of debt.
Symptoms are monitored.
Pain is endured.
Care-seeking becomes a financial calculation.
By the time certainty feels affordable, progression has occurred.
This is not individual neglect. It is structural design.
When early diagnosis carries huge financial involvement, late diagnosis becomes predictable.
If systems want earlier-stage detection, they must make early action the lowest-cost option, not the highest-risk one.
Financing is not an administrative detail in cancer control. It is a clinical determinant!”
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