May 27, 2008.
We will never know how much damage this economic crisis, in which we have been floundering since 2008, will have done. In terms of health, there are countless ailments around the world. According to a study published in the British journal The Lancet, half a million people are believed to have died of cancer as a result of this crisis.
Rising unemployment leads to higher cancer deaths
The economic crisis is said to have caused cancer and the death of 500,000 people around the world since 2008. This is what a study conducted by researchers at Imperial College in London reveals. ” We found out that rising unemployment was associated with increased cancer mortality but that general health coverage protected the population against these effects ”, Explained Dr. Mahiben Maruthappu who led the study.
260,000 deaths from cancer were recorded in the countries of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) between 2008 and 2010, including 160,000 within the European Union. And unemployment is directly associated with these deaths since, according to the figures published in this study, ua 1% increase in unemployment leads to an additional 0.37 deaths from cancer per 100,000 inhabitants.
How can the crisis cause cancer deaths?
Unemployed people have found themselves without sufficient resources to seek treatment, especially in countries around the world that do not offer generous health coverage such as in France. ” In countries where there is no general social security coverage, access to healthcare often depends on the employment contract », Explain the authors of the study. ” Unemployed, patients are probably diagnosed late and receiving poor treatment or late “.
In France, the number of cancer deaths, due to the economic crisis, was half as high as in the United States, for an equal population. 1,500 cancer deaths have nevertheless been deplored since 2008. But cancer is not the only cause of death in times of economic crisis. An Inserm study published in 2015 revealed that the crisis had led to an increase in suicides (+600 suicides) in France.
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