Sadly, it is now a rare person who hasn’t felt the shock and sadness of a loved one fighting cancer. This single term for a family of diseases is now the second largest cause of death globally. It accounts for about one sixth of all deaths. And the incidence is rising[1]. In 1990 around 0.70% of the world’s population were suffering from the disease. That proportion was 0.87% in 2017. By 2040 it is forecast to rise to nearer to 1.5%[2]. Read more …
It is a truism of course to say that it is impossible to predict the future. And typically, the further into the future you go, the harder it is to predict what is going to happen. But in some cases, forecasting what is likely to happen in the long term can be done with reasonable confidence.
In January 2017 Mikhail Gorbachev wrote an article for Time magazine. In it, the former head of Soviet Union painted a bleak picture. “It all looks as if the world is preparing for war” he said[1].