2014 World Cancer Leaders' Summit

The 2014 World Cancer Congress kicked off, on Wednesday 3rd December, with the annual World Leaders' Summit. The topic was 'the Economic Case for Cancer Control' with more than 260 key decision makers from all over the world attending.

The Summit began with an engaging welcome by Felicia Knaul, a UICC board member and Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School. She introduced the topic with the premise that the economics of cancer is much more than about money- it is also very much about human life.

Professor Knaul introduced the Secretary of the Victorian Department of Health, Dr Pradeep Philip. Stating that cancer alone makes up 5-7% of the cost of health care in high income countries, Dr Philip stressed the need to reconceptualise the economics of health and health care from the perspective of social determinants of health rather than limiting it to institutional and funding activity.

Dr Etienne Krug, the Director, Department for Management of NCDs, Disability, Violence and Injury Prevention at the World Health Organisation (WHO) then took the stage to discuss the compelling case for the economic burden of cancer. Presenting many facts and figures, Dr Krug mentioned that there are 14 million new cases of cancer each year and 8.2 million deaths, making up 22% of the global NCD deaths.  The economic cost of cancer, he stated, is over one trillion dollars.

Dr Rifat Atun, from the Harvard School of Public health, used the investment in AIDS as a good case for investing in cancer, pointing out that investment in AIDS increased for a certain period and then decreased gradually providing higher returns on investment.

For the second part of the Summit, participants split into break out groups, discussing various issues such as tobacco control, palliative care and screening in more detail with a panel of experts.

You will be able to learn more about what was discussed in the World Cancer Leaders' Summit Report when it will become available.

Download the Summit report.