The World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) have published the Global Status Report on Cancer 2026: the Future we Choose Together, representing the most comprehensive assessment to date of global progress in cancer prevention and control. It provides an evidence-based roadmap to strengthen cancer systems and reduce inequalities worldwide.

As part of  Global Health Connector, our Global Cancer Ecosystem (GCE) serves as a premier global communication and collaboration platform connecting stakeholders across regions, disciplines, and sectors to actively reduce these cancer inequalities. We are proud that  All.Can, member of the GCE Steering Group, contributed  to this landmark publication by bringing its expertise in person-centred cancer care and health system sustainability to the global conversation.

The report highlights both encouraging progress and urgent challenges. While 82% of countries now have a National Cancer Control Plan, implementation continues to lag behind policy commitments. Only 14% of people who require palliative care receive it, and around half of patients and their families experience catastrophic financial hardship due to cancer-related costs, regardless of their country’s income level.

Other key findings underline the scale of the challenge:

• 20.6 million people were diagnosed with cancer worldwide in 2024, with annual cases expected to reach 35 million by 2050.
• One in five people will develop cancer during their lifetimes, while approximately 92% of the global population will be affected directly or through someone close to them.
• Nearly 40% of new cancer cases are preventable through evidence-based interventions addressing known risk factors.
• Despite improvements in prevention and early detection, profound inequalities remain: five-year survival for several cancers exceeds 85% in high-income countries, but falls below 45% in many low-income settings.

Perhaps the report’s strongest message is that the greatest challenge is no longer a lack of knowledge but the gap between what we know works and what is actually implemented. 

To close this gap, WHO identifies three strategic shifts for the future of cancer control: better capabilities, better protections, and better value, placing people with lived experience, integrated health systems, and equitable access at the centre of decision-making.

This vision strongly resonates with the mission of the Global Cancer Ecosystem. By connecting healthcare professionals, researchers, policymakers, patient organisations, innovators, industry, and civil society, the Ecosystem aims to turn knowledge into action, facilitate meaningful CollaborAction – collaboration in action – and accelerate the implementation of solutions that reduce cancer inequalities worldwide.