The Global Fight Against Cancer

Peru Adopts Historic First National Cancer Control Plan

On January 11, 2007, the Peruvian Ministry of Health signed the first comprehensive cancer control plan in Peru. After collaborating for more than a year, the American Cancer Society, the Health Ministry, the Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Neoplásicas, and others in a coalition of health care leaders created a comprehensive cancer control plan that will serve as a model for others nations. The plan addresses all elements of cancer control, including prevention, treatment, and quality of life for patients and survivors. Presiding at the signing ceremony with the the Minister of Health was Elmer Huerta, MD, MPH, president-elect of the Society, Nathan Grey, national vice president for International Affairs, and Alessandra Durstine, director of Latin America Programs.

South Atlantic Division Strengthens Collaboration with the Bolivian Foundation Against Cancer

The American Cancer Society’s South Atlantic Division recently sponsored a trip to several rural communities in Bolivia as part of its collaboration with the Bolivian Foundation Against Cancer. Participating in the trip were National Board of Directors Chair and South Atlantic volunteer Anna Johnson-Winegar, PhD; South Atlantic Division Chief Mission Officer Patricia Hoge; South Atlantic Hispanic Latino Initiative Manager Rosa Villoch-Santiago; and International Partners Program Senior Manager Diana Vaca. South Atlantic’s third Bolivian visit formalizes a three-year agreement to continue work on cervical and breast cancer awareness and early detection. This trip provided an opportunity to evaluate the program’s effectiveness and identify new areas to help build capacity within Bolivia’s cancer control community. Among the trip’s highlights was the launch of a cervical cancer screening campaign in Copacabana made possible through funds raised by the Bolivian community and South Atlantic donors. The campaign screened over 130 women for cervical cancer from Copacabana and surrounding villages along Lago Titicaca. During the trip, the Society’s delegation met with leaders such as Philipp Goldberg, the US Ambassador to Bolivia; and Nyla Heredia Miranda, Bolivia’s Minister of Health to foster future collaborative opportunities among private and government stakeholders.

Article Cites Plan for Mexico Doctors to Quit Smoking

A Washington Post article on January 20, 2007, cited the need for doctors, nurses, and other health care professionals in Mexico to quit smoking and outlined a proposed plan for helping them quit. In Mexico and many other low- and middle-income nations, health professionals smoke at far higher rates than the general adult population. According to data compiled by the American Cancer Society, Mexican doctors and nurses smoke at twice the rate as other adults. Thomas J. Glynn, PhD, director of international programs for the American Cancer Society, said that smoking among health professionals follows a distinct pattern. When tobacco use first becomes widespread in a country, doctors smoke more than the wider population because they generally belong to the upper classes and can afford to buy cigarettes. “As time goes on, they give it up,” Glynn said, “and that filters down to the rest of society.”  Mexico has just launched a campaign to encourage doctors to quit through seminars on specific illnesses coupled with presentations about the health effects of smoking. 

California Division Joins 25 Nations for African Cancer Control Conference

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.