As part of the Presidency of the Nordic Cancer Union, the Danish Cancer Society held an all-day workshop on inequality in cancer for all member countries on September 4, 2019.
The background for the workshop was the knowledge that improvement in the field of cancer does not benefit everyone equally. People who live alone or who have short education and low income are at greater risk of getting cancer, and they have less probability of survi-ving a cancer disease compared to people who are cohabiting or who have a longer education and higher income. The social gradient exists throughout the cancer course, and unfortunately, the inequality in cancer is increasing.
The purpose of the workshop was to share knowledge and experiences in the nordic cancer associations from the work within reducing inequality in cancer. The Danish Cancer Society has made a white paper on cancer inequality in Denmark. One of the authors of the white paper, PhD student Maja Halgren Olsen, gave a presentation on existing knowledge in the field. At the workshop, all the representatives from the individual cancer associations were invited to talk about activities in the field in their own countries. There was also a discussion and exchange of ideas on how the fight against cancer inequality could be developed.