Season's Greetings 2024 from UICC

As we approach the end of 2024, I want to extend my heartfelt thanks to our members, partners and wider cancer community. Your dedication and relentless work have been essential in advancing many actions and initiatives this year to reduce the burden of cancer and support individuals and communities affected by the disease. The UICC team is in awe at the impact our members and partners are making around the world.

We had the pleasure of meeting many of you in Geneva at the World Cancer Congress in September, which gathered over 2,000 great people from the cancer community from more than 120 countries. We exchanged successes, shared knowledge and best practices, and discussed innovative solutions to the common challenges that many face in cancer control. The insights and collaborations forged at the Congress will, as always, sustain us in the years to come. Please click through here to read the Congress report.

We also completed the final year of the World Cancer Day campaign on inequity called 'Close the Care Gap' and in 2025, we will be marking World Cancer Day with the title ‘United By Unique’, highlighting the uniqueness of every person’s cancer diagnosis and treatment and calling for a fundamental shift in cancer care and health systems worldwide towards a people-centred model.

I have been delighted to see the continued growth and impact of the ATOM Coalition which brings together more than 40 partners intent on improving the supply and use of cancer medicines in low- and lower-middle income countries. New pathways have been developed and 70 plus cancer medicines are now available to ATOM countries.

In October, we welcomed a new Board of Directors, President, and President-elect, at the UICC General Assembly. It will be a delight to work with Ulrika Årehed Kågström, Zainab Bagudu and the rest of the Board in the coming two years in which we plan to write a new Business Plan and review UICC’s long term strategy.

Jeff Dunn completed his two years as President having been on the Board of UICC for 10 years. Our sincere thanks to him for his energy and commitment over so many years and I am sure we will continue to work with him in the future and we will no doubt see him at the World Cancer Leaders’ Summit in Melbourne in November 2025.

As a membership organisation, it has been important to all the UICC team that we interact with our members on a day-to-day basis and provide the support, guidance, help and advice which they need to fulfil their own mandates.

In 2024, we strengthened our UICC Connect platform, which will grow in importance to our membership, helping them interact online in communities of interest, sharing best practice and inspiring others in our community.

And, of course, we continue our outreach to members to hear how their advocacy priorities can inform our work on an updated World Cancer Declaration for the World Cancer Leaders’ Summit in Melbourne in November. We know from the past that global advocacy works best when it is closely linked to the advocacy messages conveyed by UICC members in all countries.

We conclude 2024 as a strong organisation, intent on improving cancer control globally. On behalf of UICC, I wish all our members, partners, and wider network a peaceful holiday season and a prosperous new year.

Warm regards,

Dr Cary Adams
CEO, UICC