Only 8 countries could lower early deaths, meet UN SDG by 2030: Report

Even as premature deaths due to cancer have come down across three-fourths of the world, only eight countries are likely to meet the related United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Target 3.4, pointed out a recent study.

The target is concerned with slashing premature deaths from non-communicable diseases (NCDs), including cancer, by a third by 2030 through prevention and treatment.

For the study, researchers, including those from the World Health Organization (WHO), Switzerland, calculated the risk of dying prematurely for people aged 30-69 years to discern how the pattern of yearly premature deaths due to cancer changed from 2000-2019 across 183 countries.

Data from the WHO Global Health Estimates were used.

The research team found that while overall early deaths due to all cancers fell across South-East Asian countries, early deaths due to breast, colorectal and pancreatic cancer increased. The findings were published in The Lancet Oncology.

However, "for most ...