Willie Goffney, MD, president-elect of the California Division, represented the American Cancer Society at the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) Nobel Peace Prize “Special Event” on Cancer Control in Cape Town, South Africa, in December 2006. Cancer control leaders from 25 African countries and global cancer management organizations - including the World Health Organization, the International Union Against Cancer (UICC), the International Agency for Cancer Treatment and Research (INCTR), and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) - attended the event. The event provided a powerful forum for sharing diverse perspectives on opportunities to raise awareness about Africa’s cancer burden and promote greater local, regional, and global collaboration to impact the global cancer burden. Dr. Goffney delivered a cancer planning presentation and Ann McMikel, director of Planning and Business Operations in International Affairs, delivered a presentation on the importance of civil society. Both shared US cancer control practices and learned more about the cancer burden in Africa from the continent’s influential leaders and health care experts. The meeting resulted in two policy document drafts aimed at improving cancer care in Africa - a cancer declaration cosigned by all the major organizations and a document specifically focused on radiation oncology, which dealt with education, clinical research, and evidence-based medicine and emerging technologies.
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