World Cancer Leaders' Summit

The World Cancer Leaders’ Summit (WCLS) is the preeminent biennial policy meeting dedicated to furthering global cancer control at the highest levels.

The World Cancer Leaders’ Summit takes place every two years and brings together key decision-makers from around the world and encourages timely debate on emerging issues related to cancer. It provides an important forum to secure a coordinated, multileveled global response to address the spiralling cancer epidemic.

The WCLS is traditionally organised in partnership with the World Health Organization (WHO), the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and is hosted by a UICC member from the region where it is being held.

The event is by invitation only, and its attendance is mainly open to UICC members and partners among the global health and cancer leadership community.

Why the World Cancer Leaders' Summit is important

The World Cancer Leaders’ Summit offers global decision-makers a privileged platform to interact, share experience and expertise, and shape how governments, NGOs, civil society, academia and other stakeholders can work together and shape the task of eliminating cancer as a life-threatening disease for future generations.

The Summit complements other signature events organised by UICC, which are World Cancer Day and the World Cancer Congress. The Summit plays a pivotal role in this portfolio of global events by ensuring that the nine targets detailed in the World Cancer Declaration to be achieved by 2025 are appropriately recognised and addressed at the highest political levels.

Objectives

Key objectives of the World Cancer Leaders’ Summit include:

Raising awareness among leading decision-makers to ensure cancer is a global health priority.
Providing a forum to exchange information and innovative ideas on how to reverse the cancer epidemic and ensure a sustainable response.
Defining compelling messages to support the global call to action against cancer.
Creating a force which galvanises politicians and policymakers and increases cancer’s visibility on the international public health agenda.

Diverse panel at World Cancer Leaders' Summit branded in background

Upcoming Summit: World Cancer Leaders' Summit 2027

24-28 November 2027

Organised by UICC and hosted the National Cancer Institute of Kenya, the Summit’s return to Africa highlights the continent’s growing leadership role in global cancer control.

Hosted by the National Cancer Institute of Kenya, the Summit will be held at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC), a landmark venue in the heart of Nairobi.

“The World Cancer Leaders’ Summit brings together voices from every region to shape the future of cancer control. Holding the Summit in Nairobi ensures that Africa’s experiences and priorities are part of that global conversation. By convening in Africa, the Summit will ground its discussions in the lived realities of communities most affected by rising cancer burdens, ensuring that strategies are shaped by those confronting these challenges most directly.”
– Zainab Shinkafi-Bagudu, President-elect of UICC, and Founder and CEO of Medicaid Cancer Foundation

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