Annual Report 05 - International Union Against Cancer

Connecting, mobilizing, supporting
The UICC World Cancer
Declaration 2008
2008
Declaration Cancer
The World Cancer Declaration was developed by the UICC, adopted by the World Cancer Summit, and
endorsed by the World Cancer Congress. It takes an optimistic approach to tackling the cancer crisis, setting
World
out 11 targets and 16 priority actions for concerted action to reverse current trends.
The targets include significant drops in global tobacco consumption, obesity and alcohol intake; universal
vaccination programmes for hepatitis B and human papilloma virus to prevent liver and cervical cancer;
UICC
dramatic reductions in the emigration of health workers with specialist cancer training; universal availability
of effective pain medication; and the dispelling of myths and misconceptions about the disease. The
“ This is an outstanding document,”
Dr Margaret Chan,
director-general of the
World Health Organization, said at
the opening plenary of the congress.
Recent trends in public health make
the international community receptive
to its arguments and responsive
to its call to action, she suggested.
First, the time is right to place cancer
control on the development
agenda – the first priority action set
out in the declaration. “Diseases like
cancer are a leading cause of so-called
catastrophic health expenditure. This
is especially true in low- and middleincome
countries, where most people
rely on out-of-pocket payments
for health care. WHO estimates that
catastrophic payments for health care
push an estimated 100 million people
below the poverty line each year. For
cancer, out-of-pocket payment is a
double-edged sword. It discourages
people from seeking treatment early,
when the chances of cure are greatest.
And it deepens household and
community poverty.”
Second, capacity building: the declaration
sets out specific capacity
needs for cancer control, especially in
low- and middle-income countries.
“In just the past few years, the international
community has come face to
face with the consequences of
5