The World Cancer Leaders' Summit 2021 goes fully virtual

Despite the best efforts of so many people to address the COVID-19 pandemic globally, many countries continue to face challenges forcing governments to impose lockdowns, close borders or restrict movement across their own lands. The US is one of those countries, as it experiences another surge of COVID-19 cases, hospitalisations and deaths. 

UICC had hoped that for the borders would be open by this time to allow the cancer community to travel to the World Cancer Leaders’ Summit in Boston and enjoy the company of the many friends and colleagues from around the world that they have not seen for so long. 

Entry into the USA is still not possible, however, from the European Schengen Area, Brazil, the United Kingdom, Ireland, South Africa, China, Iran and India. [1]  

Therefore, UICC has made the decision to switch the World Cancer Leaders’ Summit on 25th-26th October to a fully virtual event. It will run between 8am and 4pm EST (12pm – 8pm UTC/GMT). 

UICC had anticipated from the outset that the Summit may not be able to be run with a live, in-person component, and had designed the event in a hybrid model, with the ability to switch a fully virtual model quickly and efficiently. The Summit online platform was launched on 30th August and already more than 300 delegates have registered and begun to explore the richness of its content and engage with others. 

There is therefore no change for those delegates who had not planned to be in Boston. For those who had planned to be in Boston on 25th-26th October, they will be able to enjoy the full Summit programme from the comfort of their desks through the online platform, with the ability to interact with colleagues virtually and posting questions to all the Summit speakers.  

Online content for the “On the Road to the Summit” programme will be updated weekly. Participants and can upload their own papers and documents which they feel will be of interest to the wider Summit community. Despite the cancellation of an in-person programme, the Summit platform will enable to the cancer leadership to unite around the theme “Driving innovation to advance cancer control equitably”.  

On 13th September, UICC will announce the finalists for the Outstanding Contribution to Cancer Control (OCCC).

[1] Proclamation on the Suspension of Entry as Immigrants and Non-Immigrants of Certain Additional Persons Who Pose a Risk of Transmitting Coronavirus Disease