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06 December 2017

‘Leadership in Action’ meeting for UICC members in Latin America during the 2017 WCLS

The ‘Leadership in Action: Cancer control in Latin America’ meeting brought together 43 senior executives from 19 countries on Monday 13 November, at the 2017 World Cancer Leaders’ Summit in Mexico City, Mexico.

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The ‘Leadership in Action’ meeting (‘Liderazgo en acción’) took place as a 4-hour closed event for UICC members from the Latin-American region. 

Under the umbrella of the CEO Programme and as part of the regional engagement, 43 senior executives representing the diverse membership as well as an outstanding geographical representation from 19 countries from the region, gathered to discuss about common challenges and to share best practices through two sessions moderated by Irene Mia, Global Editorial Director from The Economist Intelligence Unit.

The first session, ‘Developing suastainable funding models’ session, was led by Nick Grant, Executive Director of International Partnerships at Cancer Research UK and member of UICC’s Board of Directors; and Diego Paonessa, Executive Director at the LALCEC. While the first presentation focused on the successful case of Research Cancer UK and the strategies that relate to individual donations and social media as the way to look forward, the second one emphasized on the relevance of understanding the regional context to avoid disappointments when trying to replicate successful models.

The presentations were followed by interactive round-table discussions. Participants identified challenges such as the importance of creating trust and transparency or the lack of fiscal incentives to donate, as well as best practices, such as the use of champions or ambassadors that can be associated with trust or the engagement of youth or patient groups.

The second session on ‘the role of cancer registries in improving cancer control’ was led by Dr. Marion Piñeros, scientist in the Cancer Surveillance Unit at IARC and Dr. Luis Eduardo Bravo, Director at the Registro Poblacional de Cáncer de Cali. Dr. Piñeros discussed the role of cancer registries within global health policies and the need to connect with civil society. Dr. Bravo focused specifically on the cancer registry in Cali and the impactful role it played an impactful role in drafting cancer plans and formulating policies in Colombia, over the past 55 years.

Participants had then time to discuss how civil society can better engage with cancer registries and vice versa. The need to have national standards and a standardised process which allows society organisations to know what they need to provide to populate cancer registries in terms of data, was highlighted. Likewise, the importance at having a better communications in both ways was identified, both as a way to show impact and influence policy-makers, and by providing an additional tool to raise awareness amongst the general public when data is translated into plain language.

As a follow-up to this meeting, and to continue fostering regional collaborations, 5 ‘Short-term Leadership Development Grants’ sponsored by Prevent Cancer Foundation will be awarded to attendees wishing to visit another organisation within the region, to learn on a specific topic through a shadowing-mentoring system. 

This meeting in Mexico City constitutes the 2nd of a series of events which will have its second cycle starting in 2019, right after the World Cancer Congress in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia where the CEO Programme will take place.

The Leadership in Action meetings are supported by MSD as part of the CEO Programme.

Last update

Friday 07 June 2019

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