The World Health Organization global status report (2010) and a related United Nations declaration (2012) brought attention to the rapidly growing burden of non-communicable diseases in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMIC).

Globally, cancer is a growing and progressively urgent problem from medical, health system, business, work force, economic and ethical perspectives. The case burdens are increasing in LMICs and also in rural underserved areas in resource-rich countries, and by various measures outcomes are significantly worse than in high-income countries and regions.