My apologies for not getting a post up earlier. We had some very long days at the summit and I found my brain just couldn't give up the info yet! I have started working on summaries of the presentations and will add some of my ideas later on. It was an amazing 3 days and I am still processing and making sense of what I have learned. The summaries are a bit academic - as I said, I will add my opinions and ideas later on.
Global Summit – Day 1
Across the world, 33,000 people will be diagnosed with cancer – today.
We really only know about ½ of the causes of cancer, but of what we know:
· 80-90% of cancer have origin in environment or lifestyle behaviours
· Infections cause a high number of cases cancer in developing countries – ex. Hepatitis B causes liver cancer
· 30% of cancers in rich countries are caused by tobacco
Cancer is the most preventable and most curable of chronic diseases.
Cancer is as much a political issue as medical one.
In the U.S., a 10% decrease in cancer cases = $1 trillion in health savings
Does focus on prevention lead to blame or guilt? We must empower people, it is important not give too much personal responsibility.
Tobacco is only co-op that can market an addictive and lethal disease.
Cancer is not only life-threatening – it is an act of violence. You have to fight for your life and fight for your care.
3 things that can save lives:
- Eliminate exposure to tobacco
- Get exercise
- Be active – become an activist
We must put site-specific things aside and provide a unified front to politicians, etc.
Cancer must be approached in an intersectoral manner – across all areas of government. This is not only a health issue. Some governments allocate funding based on evidence based treatments and best practices. We can use some preventative strategies – eliminate tobacco use, eliminate use of tanning beds, use screening programs – there needs to be buy in from all levels and areas of government.
One suggestion to making a difference for access to medication is to change the length of time a drug company can have monopoly on intellectual property – perhaps 2 years, and government subsidizes any losses to company for the other 3 years.
In Belgium people are reimbursed 40 – 60% of treatment costs after consultation and negotiation with government and industry.
We should utilize current infrastructure and use electronic transfer of images/diagnostics.
We may need to take this issue to United Nations to address this on a global level.
Sometimes even free programs don’t have 100% participation – often lower socio-economic groups don’t participate
Prevention and early detection = better quality of life.
We need solidarity in fight – address fears of being ill and dying.
Our plan and vision need to be based on best possible outcomes for patients and access for patient to receive best treatments available.
We must give hope – cancer does not mean death.
World Cancer Targets
Many levers of cancer lie outside medical system.
There are shared risk factors for other non-communicable diseases.
INCP – only 14% of population has access to opiate pain medication – ie. Morphine.
We can increase quality of care by creating specialty health centres and specialized services.
Countries need to develop a National Cancer Plan.
All layers need to be involved.
Educate professionals
Continuum of stakeholders.
Corporate responsibility
- now match employees contribution with time off
- loan Pfizer employees for up to 6 months
- “social opportunity vs. social responsibility
Power of bringing together unusual events – i.e. NIKE Stages art project
Business philosophy – “profits with a purpose” -becomes part of profile of company
The Global Burden of Cancer
Today, 33,000 people around the globe will be diagnosed with cancer. We are facing an epidemic, especially in the developing countries. In my opinion, this is quickly becoming a humanitarian crisis. And we must respond. People all over the world have recognized the urgency of the situation and have found creative ways to address the issues arising in their countries. But it is not enough. We must have a global, intersectoral, governmental, multi agency and grassroots response so that everyone, regardless of where they live, will have access to diagnostic tools and treatments that will save their life and give them a better quality of life.
Currently, we know approximately ½ of the causes of cancer. We know:
· 80-90% of cancer have origin in environment or lifestyle behaviours
· Infections cause a high number of cases cancer in developing countries – ex. Hepatitis B causes liver cancer
· 30% of cancers in rich countries are caused by tobacco
Cancer is the most preventable and curable non-communicable disease yet it is underfunded and under resourced. and the response needs to come from beyond medical boundaries. According the CEO of American Cancer Society, cancer is a violent disease – you have to fight for your life and fight for your treatment. He estimates that if the U.S. could reduce the number of cancer cases by 10% the would save $1 trillion in medical costs.
There were some discussions on how best to provide information and education on prevention strategies. While we want to empower people to make healthy personal choices that reduce the risk of getting cancer, we must be careful to not blame the patient. It does not help our cause to have people feel guilty while fighting the disease. Some prevention strategies that can save live
· eliminate exposure to tobacco - Tobacco is only co-op that can market an addictive and lethal disease.
- Get exercise
- Be active – become an activist
It became evident that government around the world would need to become actively involved in this fight, both in their own countries, and finding some way to work together to ensure all people in the world have to medical treatments that will save their lives, give them a better quality of life, and for those who are not curable, let them life pain free, with respect and dignity. Some suggestions on how governments can make a difference are:
· Cancer must be approached in an intersectoral manner – across all areas of government. This is not only a health issue. Some governments allocate funding based on evidence based treatments and best practices.
· We can use some preventative strategies – eliminate tobacco use, eliminate use of tanning beds, use screening programs – there needs to be buy in from all levels and areas of government.
· change the length of time a drug company can have monopoly on intellectual property – perhaps 2 years, and government subsidize any losses to company for the other 3 years.
· We should utilize current infrastructure and use electronic transfer of images/diagnostics.
· We may need to take this issue to United Nations to address this on a global level.
· Sometimes even free programs don’t have 100% participation – often lower socio-economic groups don’t participate. We need to find ways to address the barriers these groups have to accessing screening tests.
· We need solidarity in fight – address fears of being ill and dying.
· Our plan and vision need to be based on best possible outcomes for patients and access for patient to receive best treatments available.
· We must give hope – cancer does not mean death.
· Countries should create a national cancer plan (Canada has one)
