The Policy Checklist: Cancer Control Infrastructure Across LAC, 2019–2021
Of 33 countries surveyed, only 10 had all five basic cancer control building blocks in place. Haiti, Dominica, and St. Kitts & Nevis have just one. The pattern maps closely to outcomes: countries with the most complete infrastructure tend to have the lowest mortality-to-incidence ratios.
Heatmap grid showing 33 LAC countries (rows, grouped by subregion) against 5 binary cancer policy indicators (columns): National Cancer Plan, Cancer Registry, Cervical Screening, HPV Vaccination, and Cancer Surgery. Green cells with checkmarks indicate "Yes," red cells with X marks indicate "No," and grey cells with question marks indicate "Don't know." Countries are sorted by total "Yes" count within each subregion. Ten countries have all 5 indicators (Costa Rica, Mexico, Panama, Dominican Republic, Trinidad & Tobago, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru). Three countries have only 1 of 5 (Haiti, Dominica, St. Kitts & Nevis). Cervical screening is the most widespread policy (28/33), while national cancer plans are least common (22/33).
