🇬🇧 Social inequalities in cancer incidence and survival.
Quantitative approaches in France and Europe.

Abstract

Social inequalities in health are defined by the observation of a difference in health risk associated with an individual’s place in the community. The social determinants of health are man-made, dependent on the way society is organized, and can therefore be modified by collective decisions. Health statistics show that, in fact, they cut across the whole of society, expressing a continuous gradient from the most advantaged to the most disadvantaged classes, passing through all the intermediate categories. Reducing inequalities cannot, therefore, be based solely on a policy of helping the most precarious populations. It’s a question that concerns the organization of society as a whole, in a variety of areas. Beyond socially-determined individual behaviors, the most important levers for a policy to reduce social inequalities in health in cancer care are more distal factors associated with the organization of
care and primary and secondary prevention, but also with regional planning and industrialization.

The development of reliable and precise tools and methods for measuring social inequalities is essential to a well-thought-out policy for combating these inequalities. In the field of cancerology, the distinction between social inequalities in incidence and survival is very important, as is the differentiated analysis of the different social inequalities. Cancer Registries networks have shown the power and influence of epidemiological studies when carried out at European (Eurocare…) or global (Concord) level. Even if national policies are capable to some extent of curbing the rise in inequalities, health inequalities
should be analyzed and tackled at the European level. Similarly, dedicated tolls as aggregated deprivation index should be constructed and used at the European level.