Blog
29 May 2017

Welcome to UICC’s new blog

Author(s):
Cary Adams
Union for International Cancer Control

About the author

In 2009, Cary made a career change, moving from the management of international businesses in the banking sector to become CEO of UICC based in Geneva. Cary and his team focus on global advocacy, convening the cancer community (through World Cancer Day, the World Cancer Congress and the World Cancer Leaders’ Summit) and running significant global capacity building projects that address global cancer issues.

Welcome to the first UICC blog which we hope will be the starting point of an ongoing dialogue on issues which impact us all in the global cancer community. We launch this blog on the back of recently receiving two international awards for “Best use of social media” and “Best membership engagement”, and in time for the completely refreshed UICC website which is more interactive than ever. I hope you can see that we wish to create a dynamic, collaborative community which readily exchange views, ideas, thoughts and plans. This plays to the very heart of our purpose – to unite the cancer community.

So, it is my honour to kick start our new blog with some reflections which (hopefully) may inspire you. As I write this, I am sitting in Geneva at the end of a significant World Health Assembly (WHA) eagerly awaiting the adoption of a cancer resolution. The last one was approved by the WHA over a decade ago back in 2005, so a new call to action across all countries is well overdue. As ever, the international diplomatic process has run its course over many months to arrive at a resolution which reflects the views of all, whilst maintaining its focus on the critical issues impacting global and national cancer control. Over this process, we have seen some countries taking stark positions on access to medicines and vaccination, tying in to broader discussion. As a result, the language used in the resolution is not as specific as we would have liked but we are confident that the document still represents an important step forward and will be a powerful tool for the cancer community. Nevertheless, we anticipate a final text with broad country support that clearly states where and how we must make progress nationally in order to contribute to reducing premature deaths from non-communicable diseases by 25% by 2025. This resolution will also set out what we can do as the cancer community to contribute to that ambition. One opportunity that has already emerged is the World Health Organization’s commitment to develop a World Cancer Report in 2019, this will be a great platform for us to raise cancer control on the global stage, and we hope that UICC and our members will have the opportunity to contribute to its development. Click here to access the final draft of the resolution.

We’d love to hear how the resolution could impact your own country’s approach to cancer control and any comments on its contents. Join the conversation on social media by using #CancerResolution and follow us on Twitter for latest updates.

We are always looking to hear from you to share new perspectives and a different take on a current issue. If you would like to be a contributor for the blog, please let the team here know. Send us an email at communications@uicc.org

Author(s):
Cary Adams
Union for International Cancer Control

About the author

In 2009, Cary made a career change, moving from the management of international businesses in the banking sector to become CEO of UICC based in Geneva. Cary and his team focus on global advocacy, convening the cancer community (through World Cancer Day, the World Cancer Congress and the World Cancer Leaders’ Summit) and running significant global capacity building projects that address global cancer issues.

Last update

Friday 07 June 2019

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