CANCER CONTROL PLANNING – A PRIORITY FOR NATIONAL NCD AND HEALTH PLANS

Building on the Global Momentum to Address Non-Communicable Diseases

Since the UN Political declaration on non-communicable diseases (NCDs) adopted in September 2011, there has been a increasing momentum at the global level to honour the commitments made in that landmark document:

  • May 2012: Agreement on the overarching target of 25% reduction in NCD deaths by 2025
  • Nov 2012: Approval of a NCD Global Monitoring Framework (GMF) including 9 global voluntary  targets and 25 indicators
  • May 2013: NCD Global Action Plan 2013-2020 (GAP)  developed for finalization at the World Health Assembly
  • May 2013: NCD  Omnibus Resolution encompassing GMF, GAP and a Global Coordinating Mechanism
  • By the end 2013: Development a global coordination mechanism (GCM) to coordinate activities and promote engagement of all actors in the global NCD response.

The Global Monitoring Framework and Global NCD Action Plan include cancer-specific targets, actions and indicators including in the areas of: 

  • Cancer planning and surveillance 
  • Vaccination for HPV and HBV against cervical and liver cancers
  • Early detection and screening for breast, cervical, oral and colorectal cancers linked to timely treatment
  • Access to essential medicines and technologies 
  • Palliative care policies 

Visit the Noncommunicable Diseases Webpage on the World Health Organisation website

 

ASSESSING NATIONAL CAPACITY: THE GLOBAL STATUS REPORT

The Global Status Report on NCDs 2010, published in 2012, reported that as many as 81%, of countries had cancer plans, policies or strategies in place, but when looking to those that had an operational plan this percentage dropped to 59% and dropped again to 48% when asked if plans were operationalised with some funds.

Percentage of countries with policies, plans or strategies and whether or not these are operational or funded (source: WHO 2012)

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A new report will be launched this year based on the 2013 Country Capacity Survey.

Responding to current challenges in the field of cancer control planning

In this context, the International Cancer Control Partnership (ICCP) of  international actors involved in supporting countries in defining and implementing cancer plans have decided to create a collaborative partnership, with a view to coordinating their efforts and assisting countries in navigating the evidence, resources and best practice advice from peers. 

The ICCP builds on the opportunity afforded by the NCD movement to open a dialogue directly with national cancer planners and decision-makers and stimulate national level advocacy on key cancer components of NCD plans.

 

Implementing the World Cancer declaration 2013

The World Cancer Declaration calls upon government leaders and health policy-makers to significantly reduce the global cancer burden, promote
greater equity, and integrate cancer control into the world health and development agenda.Building on the Global NCD Action Plan (2013-2020) agreed by Member States at the World Health Assembly in May 2013, the global cancer community has identified a set of immediate actions for all stakeholders, in particular governments, to advance progress towards 9 World Cancer Declaration targets. Learn more about the World Cancer Declaration here.

Population-based cancer registries (PBCR) and National Cancer Control Plans (NCCP) are considered to be the foundation stones of comprehensive cancer control, which is why they form the first two targets of the World Cancer Declaration.

The partnership aims to build on experience of partners and plans that are already being implemented around the globe to accelerate the World Cancer Declaration targets:

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STRENGTHEN NATIONAL CAPACITY TO ACCELERATE RESPONSES TO CANCER
• Take a whole-of-government and multisectoral approach to ensure that all major stakeholder groups are involved in the development, updating, resourcing and implementation of national cancer control plans.
• Encourage integration of cancer control plans in emerging national NCD plans.
• Increase efforts to empower and involve cancer patients in both cancer control planning and patient-led self-care at a local and national level.

 

Check the status in your country?

Using data provided by EPAAC, IAEA-PACT, IARC and WHO, UICC has compiled a set of status tables showing our best knowledge of the presence of PBCR and NCCPs in every country.  Please let us know if your entry needs updating (the table is dated August 2012).

Download the Global Status Table

PAHO has also published country cancer profiles available here.

Visit our map and searchable database of NCCPs and NCD Plans here.

We will be updating this table with new data about registries and plans in the weeks to come to post a map of population-based cancer registries on this web portal. Please contact us to let us know about your NCCP and PBCR.

Supporting countries across the NCCP cycle

The Planning Cycle is a process that support the development and implementation of an effective population-based NCCP addressing social determinants of health, prevention, early detection, diagnosis, treatment, rehabilitation,  palliative care and survivorship at all health system and societal levels.

This cycle is a process that helps every country to develop its own unique plan because the cancer problems and the systems dealing with these problems are different in each country.

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The ICCPP aims to assist cancer control planners across this planning cycle by:

  • Providing a knowledge-base for cancer planners
    • Creating a searchable database of current NCCPs from around the world to learn from on the experiences of those who have already developed cancer control plans and are now implementing them.
    • Providing facilitated access to materials and tools reflecting best practices in one place on this Web portal
  • Addressing the needs of cancer planners
    • Offering technical assistance from major global stakeholders in a coordinate manner
    • Achieving assessments for capacity building
    • Training personnel from a multidisciplinary perspective and with targets and evaluation strategies
    • Providing networking opportunities for sharing experiences and best practice amongst decision-makers, such as the Prevention Network.
  • Advocating for making cancer control plans a priority
    • Positioning cancer control as a central part of the global NCDs movement
    • Performing analysis of gaps and highlighting priority areas for inclusion in the plans
    • Providing a platform for connecting in-country cancer planners with members of the partnership and UICC members.

HOW YOU CAN GET INVOLVED?

Let us know what you are doing for advocating for the development and implementation of cancer control and prevention planning.

We would also be very interested in learning from your experience in cancer control planning. Please CONTACT US