A new WHO report warns that annual cancer cases worldwide could nearly double by 2050 without urgent improvements in prevention, diagnosis, and treatment.
A single number anchors the World Health Organization's latest cancer report: 35 million. That is how many new cancer cases the world could see each year by 2050, according to the WHO — a figure that carries particular weight for people with albinism, whose reduced melanin leaves skin chronically exposed to UV damage.
The WHO report projects that annual cancer diagnoses will rise sharply unless countries invest now in prevention, early detection, and treatment access. Skin cancer, driven by ultraviolet radiation exposure, is already the most common cancer type globally, the organisation noted.
For people with albinism, that baseline risk is compounded. Without adequate melanin to absorb UV rays, the skin has little natural protection. In many parts of sub-Saharan Africa, where sunscreen remains expensive and dermatology services are sparse, squamous cell carcinoma can develop before a person reaches their thirties, according to health researchers who have documented the pattern across the region.
The WHO report did not address albinism specifically. But its core argument — that prevention and early access to care save lives — maps directly onto what community advocates have said for years about sun protection as a medical necessity, not a cosmetic preference.
The report called on governments to prioritise cancer screening infrastructure and to reduce out-of-pocket costs for treatment. For people with albinism in low-income settings, those two gaps — screening and affordability — remain the most immediate barriers between a skin lesion and a diagnosis that comes in time.
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