After cardiovascular disease, cancer care is the second cause of death in LAC (see Chapter 3). In 2020 the region recorded around 1.5 million new cancer cases and 700 000 cancer deaths a year, making cancer care a major test of health system capacity to diagnose and deliver timely, effective treatment. Differences in the quality and timeliness of cancer care translate into marked differences in survival and treatable cancer mortality across countries (Piñeros et al., 2022[1]).
Treatable mortality captures deaths that should be avoidable through timely and effective healthcare. Several cancers have been included in this definition, the most prevalent being colorectal, breast and cervical cancers (OECD/Eurostat, 2022[2]). Figure 7.12 shows wide cross-country variation in mortality from treatable cancers. The LAC26 average was 19.3 deaths per 100 000 population in 2023, around 30% above the OECD36 average of 14.8. Rates ranged from 8.3 in El Salvador to 30.6 in Jamaica and 31.4 in Dominica, close to 300% difference. Only six countries were below the OECD average, while Mexico and Colombia were at the OECD level. Over the last decade, the LAC average worsened by 1.2 deaths per 100 000, whereas the OECD average improved by 2.8. Large increases were observed in Antigua and Barbuda (+5.6 deaths per 100 000), Saint Kitts and Nevis (+4.5), Belize (+3.7), Guyana (+3.6), Peru (+2.7) and Costa Rica (+2.6), while the clearest reductions were seen in Guatemala (‑2.9) and El Salvador (‑2.0).
Figure 7.13 shows the Childhood Cancer Survival Index for the six WHO tracer cancers combined. In the 13 LAC countries participating in CONCORD the average 5‑year survival was 75%, 15 percentage points (p.p.) below the OECD27 average of 90%. Estimates ranged from 55% in Peru to 83% in Costa Rica and Uruguay and 85% in Trinidad and Tobago, a spread of 30 p.p. between the lowest and highest estimates. Eleven of the 13 LAC countries shown were already above the WHO Global Initiative for Childhood Cancer target of 60%, but only Trinidad and Tobago came close to the OECD average.
Countries with lower treatable cancer mortality and higher childhood cancer survival are more likely to have stronger pathways for early diagnosis, faster referral and treatment, better access to specialised care, and information systems that allow outcomes to be monitored and compared. Delays at any stage of the pathway, from first contact with the health system to diagnosis and treatment, can worsen outcomes and raise costs. Population-based cancer registries are essential to benchmark survival, reveal inequalities, and identify where improvements in care pathways are most needed (OECD/European Commission, 2026[3]). Strengthening these core functions, alongside sustained investment in oncology workforce and treatment capacity, is central to narrowing the gaps seen across the region.
