Health Impacts of Natural Disasters on Cancer Care

Natural disasters—including earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, floods and nuclear accidents—exert profound and multifaceted impacts on cancer care. Acute disruption of healthcare infrastructure frequently leads to closure or damage of oncology wards, interruption of radiotherapy services and loss of chemotherapy stocks. Displacement of patients and healthcare professionals can sever long-standing patient–provider relationships and fragment continuity of care. In the aftermath of a disaster, screening and diagnostic programmes often falter, resulting in delayed presentations and more advanced disease at diagnosis. Over the medium and long term, shortages of skilled staff, medications and supportive services compromise treatment adherence, while psychosocial stressors and social isolation exacerbate patient anxiety and may worsen outcomes. Rural and low-resource settings are particularly vulnerable, but even advanced health systems can experience critical vulnerabilities, as seen when supply chains are disrupted by major storms or seismic events. Digital health solutions and mobile oncology units have emerged as adaptive strategies to maintain treatment delivery, yet equitable access remains a challenge. Strengthening infrastructure resilience, integrating disaster preparedness into oncology networks and developing tailored evacuation protocols are essential for safeguarding cancer care. Global experience underlines the importance of coordinated planning between government agencies, non-governmental organisations and academic centres to ensure that cancer patients receive uninterrupted, high-quality care before, during and after natural disasters.

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Health Impacts of Natural Disasters on Cancer Care publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in health impacts of natural disasters on cancer care across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Patient delay: The time interval between a patient’s first recognition of symptoms and their initial medical consultation.

Provider delay: The period from the first medical consultation to the initiation of appropriate diagnostic or therapeutic interventions.

Evacuation: The organised removal of patients or populations from a threatened area, which can disrupt continuity of medical care.

References

1. Breast cancer patient delay in Fukushima, Japan following the 2011 triple disaster: a long-term retrospective study. BMC Cancer (2017).
2. Social isolation and cancer management after the 2011 triple disaster in Fukushima, Japan. Medicine (2016).
3. Hospital Staff Shortage after the 2011 Triple Disaster in Fukushima, Japan-An Earthquake, Tsunamis, and Nuclear Power Plant Accident: A Case of the Soso District. PLOS ONE (2016).