title: The future cost of cancer in South Africa: An interdisciplinary cost management strategy.
abstract: The exponential rise in cancer costs in South Africa (SA) was illustrated in a recent Sunday Times article entitled 'The cost of cancer can be a debt sentence'. Our Minister of Health talks of a 'war' against the high costs of cancer drugs, and epidemiologists project a sharply rising incidence. Eminent international medical journals, such as The Lancet, underline the fact that cancer cost is a growing international problem that confronts even the richest countries. If richer countries in the world are battling to cover the costs of cancer, what is the prognosis for SA?
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Commerce, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa; Public Health Medicine, School of Nursing and Public Health, College of Health Sciences, Nelson R Mandela School of Medicine, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa; Medical Research Council/University of KwaZulu-Natal Gastrointestinal Cancer Research Centre, Durban, South Africa. Kurt.Sartorius@wits.ac.za.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sartorius
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Sartorius
authors.forename: P S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Govender
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Sharma
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sherriff
mesh_terms: D017281:Cost of Illness; D019468:Disease Management; D015276:Health Care Rationing / Q000379:methods / Q000458:organization & administration; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000191:economics / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy; D010348:Patient Care Team / Q000191:economics / Q000458:organization & administration; D013019:South Africa / Q000453:epidemiology