HRH Sheika of UAE has become a new UICC ambassador

UICC is honoured to announce that HRH Sheika Jawahar Bint Mohammed Al-Qasimi of Sharjah, UAE has become a UICC ambassador. As a core part of HRH’s ambassador role, HRH will be focusing on childhood cancer. This is a very important step in raising the profile of childhood cancer globally. HRH has been a cancer advocate for over a decade as well as being an ardent supporter of family and children’s health, rights and welfare for thirty years. 

HRH is Patron of Friends of Cancer Patients (FOCP), a charitable, volunteer-based foundation that provides cancer related information and support, engages in prevention and early detection programmes and provides referrals for treatment and care. FOCP has led national campaigns around World Cancer Day since 2008 and is very active in promoting awareness about cancer in the UAE and the region more broadly.

HRH is concerned about the unacceptable gap in survival rates between children diagnosed with cancer in low and middle income countries compared with children living in high income settings. Therefore, in her role as UICC ambassador, advocacy around improving global disparities in childhood cancer survival rates and access to treatment and care will be a particular area of focus. In this respect, HRH supports strengthening the health sector response to childhood cancer to improve early detection, referrals, and access to treatment and care, including palliative care and pain relief for children. HRH will be advocating for greater attention to children within the World Cancer Declaration and developing key actions at policy and programme level. 

HRH is also supporting a joint ‘Signs and Symptoms’ campaign on childhood cancer to be launched on International Childhood Cancer Day, February 15th, by the International Confederation of Childhood Cancer Parent Organizations (ICCCPO), the International Society of Paediatric Oncology (SIOP) and UICC, to improve knowledge and awareness of health professionals regarding the warning signs of childhood cancer to promote early detection.