UK spends 20% less on cancer treatment than rest of EU

The UK spends 20% less of its total health budget on cancer and 10% less of its GDP on healthcare than the rest of the EU, finds a report commissioned and funded by industry trade body, the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI). Lower levels of investment are linked to poorer survival rates: British patients have worse survival after five years for nine out of 10 cancers compared to the European average. The only cancer that bucks the trend and exceeds the European Union country average is melanoma. The report adds a UK perspective to the Swedish Institute for Health Economics' (IHE) European cancer comparator report, which reported on the state of cancer care in Europe over a 20-year period from 1995 to 2014. The new analysis is published alongside an online toolkit which enables ready comparison between UK and EU cancer care.