Political acting to control the cancer in Colombia

Abstract

Cancer is a topic of interest in public health due to the gradual increase in the number of cases, high costs to the health systems and the number of deaths. Health promotion is not enough to control it, since the implementation of healthy lifestyles not only requires the individual willingness but also the making of policies, laws, programs, plans, and so on, to favor the individual's behavioral changes into the healthy lifestyles that would, in turn, position the healthy options as appealing initiatives to follow. Colombia has understood the cancer as a priority issue. Therefore, the country has set a regulatory framework aiming to control the cancer based on the early detection and prevention as well as the comprehensive treatment including both the rehabilitation and resuming to the labor life. This review seeks to approach to the Colombian legal and regulatory system concerning the cancer control, by outlining its historic evolution and underlining the potential inconveniences and scope.