Finalists for the 2020 UICC awards announced

In total, a list of eight finalists have been confirmed for the second biennial UICC Awards. Three leaders are up for the UICC CEO Award, while a shortlist of five UICC member organisations are among the finalists for the World Cancer Day Spirit Award. 

The list of nominations included nominees from every region putting forward quality submissions that highlighted the cancer community’s strengths in leadership and partnership. 

UICC CEO Award finalists 

A dedicated and resilient administrator with a passion for strategic management, a global cancer leader with a career spanning 40 years and a digital health innovator and self-defined oncopreneur – the three shortlisted finalists for the 2020 UICC CEO Award could not be more different. However, they have one thing in common: an unwavering resolution to help cancer patients access the best possible care. 

Arasb Ahmadian, Chief Executive Officer of MAHAK (the Society to Support children Suffering from Cancer in Iran), Sanchia Aranda, outgoing CEO of Cancer Council Australia and former UICC President and Omolola Salako, Executive Director of Sebeccly Cancer Care and Support Centre in Nigeria, will be contending for the second UICC CEO Award. This recognises the leadership and expertise of those leading a cancer control organisation from across the UICC Membership. 

CEO Award finalists: 

• Arasb Ahmadian, MAHAK, Iran 
• Sanchia Aranda, Cancer Council Australia 
• Omolola Salako, Sebbeccly Cancer Care and Support Centre, Nigeria  

UICC World Cancer Day Spirit Award finalists 

This year’s finalists for the World Cancer Day Spirit Award exemplify some of the most effective approaches to partnerships and collaborations for World Cancer Day. The five selected organisations uniquely stood out in the areas of innovative, impactful as well as sustainable partnerships. 

PASYKAF (the Cyprus Association of Cancer Patients and Friends) – a second-time nominee in this category – used World Cancer Day as an opportunity to reinvigorate a decades-old partnership to deliver a successful, ‘I Am and I Will’ themed student competition, which reached all secondary schools across the country.  In only their second time marking World Cancer Day in Kenya, the International Cancer Institute’s strategic and thoughtful partnerships helped achieved clear and specific objectives, including screening approximately 2,000 individuals. 

Aiming to grow the impact of their World Cancer Day campaign, MAHAK, whose CEO is also nominated for this year’s Best CEO Award, did not limit their partnerships locally, but leveraged their international partners for expanded reach. The team at Singapore Cancer Society’s World Cancer Day campaign overcame the challenge of reaching rural and vulnerable populations by opening up collaborations to new partners, while Run for A Cure Africa in Nigeria effectively demonstrated that ambitious initiatives implemented at unprecedented scale cannot be successfully achieved alone.  

World Cancer Day Spirit Award finalists:

• The Cyprus Association of Cancer Patients and Friends, Cyprus 
• International Cancer Institute, Kenya
• MAHAK, Iran 
• Singapore Cancer Society, Singapore 
• Run for a Cure Africa, Nigeria 

Judging panels of leading experts in health and cancer control will convene to determine the ultimate winners. The winners of the two award categories will be named and honoured at a special edition of the Virtual Dialogue gathering the international cancer community on the 24th November.    

For more information about the UICC Awards, visit the Members Award page.