By 2030, premature mortality from lung cancer is estimated to increase by 30%. Simultaneously, countries have the formidable challenge of reducing premature mortality from non-communicable disease (NCD) by one-third through the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 3.4).
As lung cancer is a leading NCD, these statistics motivate us to rethink, redesign and reset our approach to lung cancer prevention, detection, and treatment. As lung cancer is the largest cause of premature cancer mortality, SDG 3.4 is a pipe dream for much of the world without interventions that decrease lung cancer mortality specifically.
Currently, lung cancer interventions worldwide have focused on primary prevention and risk reduction through tobacco control, an important priority yet insufficient to address the current impact of smoking-related disease and the opportunity to decrease mortality through lung cancer early diagnosis and access to appropriate medical care. Our ambition is to drive lung cancer further up the global health care agenda and encourage countries to act now to meet their SDG 3.4 goals.