COVID-19 Pandemic Has Had ‘Catastrophic Impact’ on Europe Cancer Patients: WHO Official

Up to 50 percent of services disrupted

A surgeon prepares to install the Cirq robotic arm of the Loop-X robotic-assisted surgery installation to secure his work on the spine of a patient affected by a metastatic breast cancer at the University-affiliated hospital (CHU) in Angers, western France on June 10, 2021. Loic Venance/AFP via Getty Images

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a “catastrophic impact” on people with cancer over the past two years, as up to 50 percent of cancer services were disrupted last year, WHO Europe Director Hans Kluge said Thursday.

Kluge made the comments to reporters via a virtual press briefing one day before World Cancer Day, an international awareness day led by the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC).