McCabe Centre recognised for its achievements in the prevention and control of NCDs

The Award recognises McCabe Centre for Law & Cancer’s work in empowering individuals, organisations and governments to use the law to prevent non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and advance equitable health care for all. 

The organisation was among the winners in four categories (Ministries of health and government health agencies; Ministries and government agencies outside health; UN country teams; Non-governmental organizations, academia and foundations). Winners were selected by the UN Inter-Agency Task Force on NCDs (UNIATF) and were announced today at the meeting of the Friends of the Task Force on the occasion of the UN General Assembly (UNGA), which is being run virtually. The meeting was co-chaired by the Russian Federation and the World Health Organization.

To be considered for nomination, applicants had to demonstrate an outstanding contribution in 2020 to multisectoral action in the prevention and control of NCDs, mental health or other NCD-related SDGs at a local, national, regional or international level.

“We are so grateful to be honoured for our efforts to address NCDs using law, and proud to share the honour with our fantastic partners and alumni. Action to prevent and control NCDs has become more important than ever because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and we remain committed to working across sectors to respond to health issues and create sustainable change.”
- Hayley Jones, Acting Director of the McCabe Centre

The McCabe Centre for Law & Cancer, Australia, is a joint initiative of UICC, the Cancer Council Victoria and Cancer Council Australia, established in 2012. It is the only centre of its kind in the world advancing law to fight cancer and other NCDs and promote equitable access to safe, effective and affordable care for people affected by them. Its work includes world-leading research and a capacity building program which since 2014 has trained more than 200 lawyers and policymakers from 70 countries on effective use of law to address cancer and other NCDs. 

To date, after attending training, alumni in 19 countries have successfully supported the passing of laws and/or regulations contributing to NCD prevention and control. Alumni in six countries have also successfully defended public health laws from legal challenges by the tobacco industry, drawing critical support from the McCabe Centre’s experience in this area. 

“What a wonderful accolade for a wonderful team. Using the law as a unique and powerful tool, the McCabe Centre has had a substantive impact on people living with cancer and other NCDs across the world.”
- Dr Cary Adams, CEO of UICC and member of the Joint Oversight Committee of McCabe 

The UNGA side-event organised by UNIATF reviewed ways to provide more effective UN system support to enable countries to scale up their responses to NCDs during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic. UNIATF recently released a policy brief entitled Responding to noncommunicable diseases during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.