QCS seeks to work closely with UICC

The Qatar Cancer Society (QCS) participated in the ‘World CancerLeader’s Summit’ organised by the Union for International Cancer Control(UICC) recently in Mexico.A QCS delegation led by Sheikh Dr Khalid bin Jabor al-Thani, chairman,QCS, took part in the summit held under the theme ‘Cities DrivingChange.’ The summit was opened by Mexican President Enrique Pe?a Nieto, in thepresence of heads of states, ministers of health, city and industryleaders, first ladies of different countries, executives from UICCmembership organisations and many other influential players from cancerand health leadership communities. The conference discussed how to partner collectively and support citiesin translating the global commitments in cancer prevention and care intonational action by 2025.The summit is a major annual high-level policy meeting dedicatedexclusively to furthering global cancer control. The event bringstogether key decision makers from around the world and encourages timelydebate on emerging issues related to cancer. It provides an importantforum to secure a co-ordinated, multilevel global response to addressthe spiralling cancer epidemic.Sheikh Dr Khalid said,“Our participation in this summit came within theframework of our membership in UICC which is one of the largestinternational institutions in the fight against cancer. It stresses theimportance of keeping up with the international experience to developprogrammes and future plans through participation in all internal andexternal events.” Participants at the event called for greater response to the burden ofcancer at all levels, especially that four billion people are living incities today and very few of them have access to high quality cancertreatment outside of high-income countries. Urban areas thereforepresent a critical opportunity to reach the majority of people withcancer treatment infrastructure.At the summit, Dr Khalid met with princess Dina Mired, president, UICC,and both sides discussed opportunities for Qatar Cancer Society to workmore closely with UICC and increasingly engage across UICC’s convening,capacity building, and advocacy pillars. The meeting also defined a workplan for engagement at the World Cancer Congress (WCC) in Kuala Lumpuras well as a primary role at the WCC in Oman in 2020 and explore how toleverage national and regional networks in the global fight againstcancer.