The Global Fight Against Cancer

Nigeria (June 20) Joins Global News Coverage of "We Can, We Should, We Will Conquer Cancer"

The Nation

Experts: cancer causes one in eight deaths

Olukorede Yishau

The American Cancer Society (ACS) has said one in eight deaths worldwide is caused by cancer.

Its views is contained in a document made available to reporters and cancer control advocates participating in a pre-United Nations High level Meeting on Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) conference, tagged ‘We can, We should, We will conquer cancer’, in New York, America.,

The ACS said if efforts are not stepped up to curb cancer, the global cancer burden would double to 21.4 million cases and 13.5 millions deaths by 2030.

The document indicated that the World Health Organisation (WHO) research shows that low and medium income countries, such as Nigeria are the worse hit.

It said: “Key factors in these rising rates are the lack of access to information about prevention, early detection and treatment in developing countries and an inadequate medical and public health infrastructure. As a result, cancers are often diagnosed at a late stage and people suffer needlessly from inadequate palliative care.

“Although our understanding of cancer is unprecedented, cancer continues to be a leading cause of death largely because of lack of application of known interventions.”

The socity said the activities tobacco giants should be curbed to reduce the cancer burden.

“Africa presents unique challenges and opportunities. Sub-Saharan Africa is home to the fastest-growing rates of tobacco use in the developing world. To fight the rise, the Society has collaborated with five other partners as the Africa Tobacco Control Consortium (ATCC) to implement an ambitious tobacco control programme in sub-Saharan Africa. The overall goal will be to prevent and reduce tobacco use by implementing proven strategies at the national and local levels it said.”

Cancer survivors, advocates and journalists participating in the pre-UN summit on NCDs conference will today be at the UN Headquarters in New York for discussions on cancer and how to curb it. 

To read further, go to:  http://tinyurl.com/3ebehmg

 

 

United Nations Radio Joins Global News Coverage of "We Can, We Should, We Will Conquer Cancer"

北京新阳光慈善基金会发起人兼理事长、癌症幸存者刘正琛受美国癌症协会的邀请前来纽约访问。20日，他应邀前往中国常驻联合国代表团，就 即将在今年9月联大举行的有关非传染性疾病问题高级别会议进行癌症控制和关爱方面的情况交流。他提出了加强烟草控制、让患者获得支付得起的抗癌药物（如希望医疗保险覆盖治疗慢性粒细胞白血病的格列卫等靶向药物）等方面的请求。联合国电台记者李茂奇对他进行了采访，请他谈了中国在癌症预防与治疗方面所存在的 一些挑战，以及癌症患者所面临的困境。

2011年6月20日

 

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Israel Joins Global News Coverage of "We Can, We Should, We Will Conquer Cancer"

Israeli to be ‘global ambassador’ in ongoing cancer fight

The Jersualem Post, Israel

Judy Siegel

Israel Cancer Association director-general Miri Ziv has been chosen to serve as a “global ambassador” by the American Cancer Society to participate in activity at UN headquarters in New York this year to promote the struggle against malignant diseases by the Union for the International Cancer Control.

Ziv is now a second-term member of the union’s board.

In September, a high-level meeting on preventing and diagnosing non-infectious diseases, including cancer, will be held at UN headquarters. The session is aimed at setting down guidelines for government policies to cope with these diseases on the global level and will place them in international focus. To prepare for the special UN session, Ziv will represent Israel this week for a preliminary event, which is being organized by the American Cancer Society.

The American society has invited some 100 “global ambassadors” from around the world on the basis of their work to fight cancer, with Ziv – who lost a son and brother to the disease – as one of them. The various delegations will encourage the governments they represent to give support to the fight against cancer.

 http://www.jpost.com/Health/Article.aspx?id=225708

America-based Bloomberg Business News Joins Global News Coverage of "We Can, We Should, We Will Conquer Cancer"

Bloomberg News

Oliver Renick

United Nations — Newly diagnosed cancer cases cost the global economy $300 billion in 2010, as illnesses once believed to be largely confined to wealthier countries took hold in developing nations, a Harvard University economist said during a press briefing hosted by the American Cancer Society Global Health Programs and the United Nations Department of Public Information. 

Tobacco use, alcohol intake, obesity and decreased physical activity have grown in poorer countries, causing the rise of cancer and diabetes, said David E. Bloom, professor of economics and demography at Harvard’s School of Public Health in Boston. Bloom and other researchers held a briefing today in advance of the United Nations High Level Meeting on noncommunicable diseases.

The Sept. 19-20 meeting will be the first gathering of the UN Assembly dealing with cancer, cardiovascular illness, chronic lung conditions and diabetes. These diseases cause 60 percent of deaths worldwide, killing 36.1 million people annually, according to an April report by theWorld Health Organization.

“Noncommunicable diseases will evolve into a staggering economic burden in the coming years,” Bloom said. “It’s a huge impediment to the mitigation of poverty.”

Bloom said treating newly diagnosed cancer cases cost $300 billion globally in 2010, and obstructive pulmonary disease -- often correlated with smoking tobacco -- costs $4 billion a year.

Not Confined to Health

“Economic policy makers like ministers of finance and ministers of planning see noncommunicable diseases as an issue confined to the health sector,” a misperception that needs to be addressed, Bloom said. “Dangers of NCDs are well-ensconced in the business screen of the world community,” he said.

The global decline in productivity due to illness and deaths from noncommunicable diseases will reach $35 trillion by 2030, Bloom said, an amount seven times larger than the current level of global health spending. Noncommunicable diseases undermine physical and human capital, as losses of labor put a burden on developing countries, he said.

“The main asset the poor possess is their labor, and that is the most threatened by the noncommunicable diseases,” Bloom said.

Cary Adams, chief executive officer of the Union for International Cancer Control, said people in poorer countries were “getting fatter, lazier, smoking too much tobacco, and eating unhealthy food.”

“It is the poorest people in the poorest nations that suffer the most,” said John Seffrin, CEO of the American Cancer Society, at the briefing.

Poverty Cycle

Seffrin said more than 80 percent of noncommunicable diseases occur in low and middle-income countries. “Noncommunicable diseases perpetuate the poverty cycle,” he said.

The estimate of the costs of noncommunicable diseases includes medical care, transportation, information and education campaigns, and productivity losses from those who die, Bloom said. Of 14,000 business executives surveyed worldwide, he said half believed that noncommunicable diseases would have a negative impact on their bottom line.

“Think about health spending as not consumption but investment,” said Bloom. “As investment that yields a handsome rate of return.”

“This is a moral issue,” Seffrin said. “Unlike other health problems in the past, we know what’s coming.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Oliver Renick in New York at [email protected]

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Reg Gale at [email protected].

 

United Nations Department of Public Information Carries Webcast of 'We Can, We Should, We Will Conquer Cancer'

The United Nations —  In order to give the greatest possible visibility to the devastating yet largely unknown burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and to build momentum around this important and historic meeting, the American Cancer Society (ACS) is hosting a three-day event titled “We Can, We Should, We Will Conquer Cancer”  from June 18 to 20 in New York City. This event aims to give NCDs a global voice and celebrate those bravely fighting the cancer burden.  The ACS joined with the UN Department of Public Information to host a press briefing to make the case for the urgent need to address cancer and other NCDs.  

Tune in to this Webcast to follow view today's briefing:   www.unmultimedia.org/tv/webcast/

Agenda

Moderator: Ms. Margaret Novicki, Chief, Communications Campaigns Service, United Nations Department of Public Information

Dr. John Seffrin, CEO,  American Cancer Society 

-        Making the Human and Economic Case to Focus on Cancer and Other NCDs 

David E. Bloom, Clarence James Gamble Professor of Economics & Demography, Harvard School of Public Health

-        New Data on economic burden of NCDs from the World Economic Forum NCD Report (to be released July 2011) 

Ambassador Rodney Charles, Permanent Representative of Trinidad and Tobago to the UN, speaking on behalf of CARICOM

• NCD Advocacy at the UN – The Road from Now Until September

Cary Adams, CEO, Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) 

 

-        The NCD Alliance and 100 Days to Action 

Toxic Cooking Smoke Claims Nearly Two Million Lives a Year and Contributes to Chronic Illness Including Lung Cancer: The United Nations Foundation and the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves Seek Solutions

New York City — Preparing a meal is one of the most dangerous things to do in the developing world.  Millions of people cook on open fires, which lead to health and safety problems.  Toxic cooking smoke claims 1.9 million lives each year. Cookstove smoke contributes to a range of chronic illnesses and acute health impacts such as early childhood pneumonia, emphysema, cataracts, lung cancer, bronchitis, cardiovascular disease, low birth weight, and burns. The World Health Organization estimates that harmful cookstove smoke is the fifth leading cause of death in poor developing countries. 

Yet, a scalable, clean solution may be on the horizon according to Sumi Mehta, Senior Technical Manager of the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves.  Exciting new developments may put the clean cook stove sector within reach of a “tipping point":

• Novel clean cookstove design, testing, and monitoring

• New research on the health and environmental benefits of clean cooking stoves and fuels

• Growth of a number of business models in the field

• The launch of national cookstove programs in key countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America

• The need to address climate change and the potential for carbon finance to fund stove initiatives 

During a June 19 luncheon sponsored by the United Nation's Foundation (UNF), Mehta spelled out the challenges of unsafe cooking and viable solutions.  The presentation was part of 'We Can, We Should, We Will Conquer Cancer' — a three-day event hosted by the American Cancer Society. Mehta answered several questions posed by dozens of journalists participating in the forum:

What is the health and human toll of cookstoves?
Exposure to smoke from traditional cookstoves and open fires – the primary means of cooking and heating for nearly three billion people in the developing world – causes nearly 2 million premature deaths annually, with women and young children the most affected. Cookstove smoke contributes to a range of chronic illnesses and acute health impacts such as early childhood pneumonia, emphysema, cataracts, lung cancer, bronchitis, cardiovascular disease, low birth weight, and burns. The World Health Organization estimates that harmful cookstove smoke is the fifth leading cause of death in poor developing countries. Reliance on biomass for cooking and heating forces women and children to spend many  hours each week collecting fuel. 

Cookstove smoke has drawn little public attention.  Why so?
Exposure to cookstove smoke has historically received limited funding and research attention when compared to other risk factors (lack of clean water, sanitation, and hygiene) or diseases (malaria or tuberculosis) that lead to similar levels of mortality. Part of the reason for this lack of investment is structural – barriers such as a basic lack of awareness among both affected populations and the donor community about the impact of harmful cookstove smoke and the corresponding benefits of clean cookstoves, the lack of affordable, advanced solutions that met users’ needs, or the lack of research to effectively quantify the health and environmental benefits of improved stoves and fuels. These include a lack of rigor in setting basic performance benchmarks, limited testing of stoves in both the lab and the field, and limited monitoring and evaluation of results. Ineffective and unsustainable dissemination models have also failed, including approaches such as short-term subsidies or stove giveaways not tied to the development of a sustainable market for cleaner cookstoves.

You have covered the challenges of cookstoves.  Let's talk about solutions. What are they?

The use of clean and efficient stoves and fuels can reduce exposure to harmful cookstove smoke. Typical cookstoves in developing country markets usually cost from a few dollars to $100, with the higher-performing stoves (90% reduction in emissions) generally costing more than those that provide important, but lesser benefits (40-50% reduction in emissions). Recent scientific evidence indicates that the greater the emissions reductions, the greater the health benefits. However, all solutions that significantly reduce human exposures will help lower the risk of many acute and chronic illnesses, especially for women and children who are most often exposed to cookstove smoke.

More efficient solutions also reduce fuel consumption and the time that people – usually women and girls – spend collecting fuel, allowing more time for income-generating, educational, and other activities. In cases where fuel is purchased, the cost of an efficient cookstove can often be recovered through fuel savings within a few months. Cleaner stoves that last for several years also allow the accumulated fuel savings to be spent on a range of livelihood- enhancing activities, such as starting a business, purchasing needed medicines, and paying school fees for children.

The reductions in emissions achieved by clean cookstoves can also create revenues from carbon credits. Stove companies can use this revenue in many ways, for example to reduce the stove price (thus making these products more affordable to poorer consumers), to expand marketing efforts, or to develop new products or expand into new markets. The entire supply chain for clean stoves and fuels – design, manufacture/production, distribution, and after-sales services – can also be a source of job creation at the local level.

Other steps, such as installing a chimney, opening windows, and keeping children away from cooking fires, can also help reduce direct exposure to smoke, but they do little to mitigate the other many air quality, livelihood, forestry, or climate impacts of traditional cookstoves. The development of a thriving global clean cookstove industry that is constantly innovating to improve design and performance, while lowering the cost of stoves and fuels, is therefore seen as the most sustainable way to tackle this issue.

This thriving global market will need to be based on high-quality, proven products – both stoves and fuels. To meet and sustain a global scale of production and distribution to the full target market will eventually require a fully commercial platform. As this industry develops over the coming years, commercial solutions will be a critical, but by no means the only, dissemination model of Alliance partners. Well-designed government efforts have demonstrated an ability to reach large populations and are critical components to reach the very poor in particular. Likewise, humanitarian settings offer a special case where purely commercial solutions are not always realistic.

What is the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves?
The Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves is a new public-private initiative led by the United Nations Foundation to save lives, improve livelihoods, empower women, and combat climate change by creating a thriving global market for clean and efficient household cooking solutions. The Alliance’s 100 by ’20 goal calls for the Alliance to enable 100 million homes to adopt clean and efficient stoves and fuels by 2020, toward a long-term vision of universal adoption of clean and efficient cooking solutions. The Alliance will work in cooperation with other leading non- profit organizations, foundations, academic institutions, corporate leaders, governments, and UN agencies to help overcome the market barriers that currently impede the production, deployment, and use of clean cookstoves in the developing world.

Sumi Mehta, MPH, PhD is the Senior Technical Manager for the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, an initiative of the UN Foundation. Until recently, she was the scientific lead for the Health Effects Institute’s Public Health and Air Pollution in Asia Program. She has worked on assessing exposures to household air pollution (HAP), and evaluating the cost-effectiveness of interventions to promote environmental health. She co-authored chapters on exposure assessment and susceptibility in the latest WHO Global Air Quality Guidelines, and is a member of the WHO Expert Group for HAP Guidelines. She collaborated with Kirk Smith to produce the first estimates of the global burden of disease from HAP, and is actively involved in updating the burden estimates for HAP and outdoor air pollution.

The United Nations Foundation

When disaster strikes, the world turns to one organization for hope, help, leadership, and coordi nation: the United Nations. When there is peace to keep between warring factions, the world asks the UN to mobilize peacekeepers, oversee elections, and create stability. In the face of challenges such as global warming, the United Nations provides the platform for international cooperation.

The United Nations is the one international organi zation with the reach and vision capable of solving global problems.

The United Nations Foundation links the UN’s work with others around the world, mobilizing the energy and expertise of business and non-governmental organizations to help the UN tackle issues including climate change, children’s health, peace and security, and poverty eradication. To learn more go to www.unf.org

The American Cancer Society Gives a Global “Voice” to Non-communicable Diseases During June 18-20 Event In New York City

New York City — The American Society (ACS) is convening cancer advocates and journalists from around the world for a three-day event in New York City to help raise awareness of the global burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), like cancer. The event “We Can, We Should, We Will Conquer Cancer,” to be held June 18-20, represents an important step in the ACS continuing efforts to establish cancer and other NCDs as a global health priority. It also will help build momentum to the United Nations High-level Meeting on NCDs in September, a once-in-a-generation gathering of heads of state and global health leaders that will decide on a coordinated global response to the rising burden of NCDs.  

In order for the UN High-level Meeting on NCDs to be a success, effective campaigning and grassroots efforts will be needed so that the full needs of the cancer patient are reflected in the outcomes of the meeting. The  event will convene more than 70 cancer advocates and more than 40 journalists to help create a global “voice” to the need to tackle the growing NCD burden. For three days, participants will hear from leading health experts and take part in role-playing breakout sessions. Cancer advocates will receive training as “global cancer ambassadors,” learning effective ways in which they can advocate for cancer as a global health priority. These global cancer ambassadors will then meet with representatives of the UN mission for their country, where they will be able to conduct face-to-face meetings about NCDs with these influential stakeholders. Journalists will hear about ways in which they can help amplify the stories of cancer advocates to help build awareness of the rising global NCD burden. Several ACS staff will speak at these sessions, including Greg Bontrager, Society chief operating officer; Otis Brawley, MD, Society chief medical officer; Len Lichtenfeld, MD, Society deputy chief medical officer.

On June 20, the ACS will join with the UN Department of Public Information to hold a press conference at the UN Press Briefing Room to make the case for the urgent need to address cancer and other NCDs. Speakers will include John R. Seffrin, PhD, Society chief executive officer; Cary Adams, chief executive officer, Union for International Cancer Control (UICC); and Dr. David Bloom, chief economist, World Economic Forum.  

American Cancer Society Promotes Smoke-free Environment in Vietnam: Advancing World No Tobacco Day

Hanoi, Vietnam --  In the countdown to World No Tobacco Day on May 31, the American Cncer Society and the Vietnam Steering Committee on Smoking and Health (VINACOSH) organized a workshop with the World Health Organization (WHO), The Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease and the National Tobacco Control Working Group.  Dr. Nguyen Tuan Lam, National Officer of WHO, provided updates on the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), the theme for Wold No Tobacco Day on May 31.  The WHO FCTC is the world's answer to the tobacco epidemic. It obliges its parties to take incremental action against tobacco consumption, marketing and exposure, among many other measures. VINACOSH officials and tobacco control partners discussed strategies on how to work with the media by cultivating and maintaining relationship in advance of launching a campaign. In addition, officers from four non-governmental organizations provided updates on their smoke-free environment projects.

 

  

 

First-hand Perspective on the Workshop:  Editorial by Media Consultant Glenn van Zutphen

People have a funny way of surprising you, if you give them a chance.

One journalist recounts his experience on the Vietnamese/Cambodia border, another tells of his stealth recording of secret meetings at a pharmaceutical company in crisis, another about how her reporting  a company that raised a figurative firestorm of protest.

These were some of the interesting moments of the second day of the ACS “Smoke-free Environment for Vietnam: Media Fellowship Training Session” in Hanoi.

The group of 25 journalists from Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh were selected for the program because of the excellent reportage of anti-smoking issues.

The morning session included background and informational presentations by Dr. Ly Ngoc Kinh and Nguyen Thi Viet Anh  of VINACOSH, “Challenges to Tobacco Law Enforcement” by the Community Development Services, Do Thi Phi and “Children’s Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices Toward Second-Hand Smoke” by Le Thi Thanh Huong from Hanoi School of Public Health.

After a break Tuyet Ha-Iaconis  gave her thoughts on “Communicating a Smoke-Free Vietnam” and then Ching Wong from UC San Francisco discussed their extensive research on the “Smoking Status Among Vietnamese in California”, as a reference point for the Vietnam-based journalists.

After a multicourse traditional lunch, the group returned to hear Dr. Nguyen Tuan Lam 's update on their 2011 World No Tobacco Day campaign from the World Health Organization.

That session was followed by mine, which focused on three elements: some reporting tips, how to establish and keep sources for stories, and some of the fundamentals of investigative reporting.

Tran Nam Binh and I co-moderated a session that pushed the participants to give us their stories; their tales were very interesting, including those mentioned at the beginning of this post.

By the end of the day, it was clear that the local journalists were very tuned-into their work and have a solid vision of how to do it. They received their awards and certificates for the one year completion of the Journalist Fellowship Program.

 

 

 

Editorial Crystalizes Need to Create a 21st Century Global Health Agenda Prioritizing Noncommunicable Diseases

Following is an excerpt from an editorial posted on Wednesday, May 18.  For the full article, go to these sites: http://caonline.amcancersoc.org/cgi/content/full/caac.20120v1 http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/early/2011/05/04/dc11-9999.full.pdf+html http://circ.ahajournals.org/cgi/reprint/CIR.0b013e31821c36abv1 Creating a 21st century global health agenda: The General Assembly of the United Nations High Level Meeting on Non-Communicable Diseases

Edward E. Partridge, MD¹, Elizabeth J. Mayer-Davis, MSPH, PhD, RD², Ralph L. Sacco, MS, MD, FAAN, FAHA³ and Alan J. Balch, MS, PhD⁴

¹President, Board of Directors, American Cancer Society, Atlanta, GA
²President, Health Care & Education, American Diabetes Association, Alexandria, VA
³President, American Heart Association/American Stroke Association, Dallas, TX
⁴Vice President, Preventive Health Partnership, Atlanta, GA

Corresponding author: Alan J. Balch, MS, PhD, Vice President, Preventive Health Partnership, Atlanta, GA; [email protected]

DISCLOSURES: The authors reported no conflicts of interest.

On May 13, 2010, the General Assembly of the United Nations (UN) voted unanimously for UN Resolution 64/265 to hold a High Level Meeting on Non-Communicable Diseases in September 2011. This UN High Level Meeting, to be held in New York, is an unparalleled opportunity to put noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), including cancer, diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease, stroke, and chronic respiratory disease, on the global health and development agenda. It also has the potential to secure political commitments from heads of government for a coordinated global response to NCDs, to promote multisectoral action to addressing NCDs within countries, and to ensure that resource allocations for addressing NCDs are more commensurate with their contribution to the global disease burden. Such actions will provide the urgent and necessary momentum to dramatically improve the prevention and management of NCDs for future generations. Our 3 organizations, as well as other partners, are working together to maximize the impact of this meeting. The world can no longer afford to ignore the ever-expanding global, social, and economic threat posed by chronic diseases.

The American Cancer Society Joins Global Health Ministers in Moscow in Call for Action on Non-communicable Diseases

Moscow -- John R. Seffrin, PhD, Society chief executive officer, will participate in a first-ever global health ministerial conference on non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in Moscow, Russia, being held from April 28-29. 

 

The ‘First Global Ministerial Conference on Healthy Lifestyles and NCD Control’ will address challenges presented by the rising global epidemic of NCDs, including cancer. On April 29, Dr. Seffrin will participate in a roundtable discussion on civil society and social mobilization. He is invited to address how the United States can help move the NCD agenda forward globally, and address challenges as well as opportunities for cancer prevention worldwide.

During the conference, 600 stakeholders and 150 thought leaders are expected to address the implementation of measures that exist today, so that millions of deaths can be prevented. These include policies that promote government action against NCDs: stronger anti-tobacco controls and promoting healthier diets, physical activity, and reducing harmful use of alcohol; along with improving access to essential health care. This conference will serve as a precursor to the United Nations High-level Meeting on NCDs that will take place in New York in September 2011. 

 WHO Global Status Report on NCDs

 Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are the leading killer globally and are on the increase, the first World Health Organization (WHO) global status report on NCDs, launched on April 27, confirms. In 2008, 36.1 million people died from conditions such as heart disease, strokes, chronic lung diseases, cancers and diabetes. Nearly 80% of these deaths occurred in low- and middle-income countries. Click here to read the full report: http://tinyurl.com/42fl7g9<>

 The report sets out statistics using global, regional and country-specific data to document the enormity of the problem, project future trends, and assess the risk factors contributing to these trends. The epidemic NCDs is driven by forces in every region: demographic aging, rapid unplanned urbanization, and the globalization of unhealthy lifestyles. While many chronic conditions develop slowly, changes in behaviors are occurring with a stunning global speed

 Cardiovascular diseases account for most NCD deaths, or 17 million people annually, followed by cancer (7.6 million), respiratory disease (4.2 million), and diabetes (1.3 million).  

These four groups of diseases account for around 80% of all NCD deaths, and share four common risk factors:

 •   Tobacco use

•   Physical inactivity

•   The harmful use of alcohol

•   Poor diet