Is Poverty Another Cause Of Cancer? An Empirical Analysis

Abstract

Objective: Cancer is the most important public health issue of the century and a serious economic burden on a global scale. Economic crises that have begun to be globally experienced, accompanied by unemployment, labor, and income loss, as the process is followed by poverty, anxiety, stress and weakening of the immune system cause telomere shortening and may eventually lead to a cycle that results in cancer. This study approaches the causes and risk factors of cancer with an economic paradigm contributing to the existing factors by adding new ones. The aim of this study, which was conducted in the framework of a multidisciplinary approach, is to investigate the correlation between poverty triggered by economic crises and cancer incidence. Materials and Methods: Unit Root Tests, Cointegration Tests, Engle-Granger Test, Johansen Test and Granger Causality over VECM Model have been used to investigate the short- and longterm relationship between the variables studied. Results: In this study, it is empirically determined that cancer incidence is caused by poverty and that poverty is also caused by cancer incidence. There is bi-directional causality between poverty and cancer incidence. Conclusions: This study, conducted with a multidisciplinary approach can provide different pieces of evidence to contribute to the known risk factors of cancer and to the economic crisis-cancer cycle. These pieces of evidence can be a starting point for future studies that will create evidence that fighting against economic crises and poverty -one of the consequences of crises- will cost a lot “cheaper”, rather than bearing the humanitarian and global economic burden of cancer. KEYWORDS: Poverty, Cancer incidence, Cointegration tests, Engle-Granger test, Johansen test, Granger causility over VECM model.