Sectors Converge to Change the Future of Cancer in Urban Populations

Davos, Switzerland (ots/PRNewswire) -

- New city-level initiative launched in partnership between the Union
for International Cancer Control (UICC), the World Economic Forum
and World Bank
- A commitment to saving lives by helping country and city leaders
improve the health of their citizens and reduce inequities in
access to quality cancer treatment and care
- A concrete response to the UN's global Sustainable Development
Goals 3, 11 and 17

A new initiative 'C/Can 2025: City Cancer Challenge' (C/Can 2025)
was today launched at the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting in
Davos signalling a paradigm shift in the way international
organisations will help country and city leaders address the growing
burden of cancer they are facing.

The ambitious targets of the United Nations (UN) Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs) create a timely imperative to invest in
non-communicable disease (NCD) treatment in cities, and specifically
in cancer treatment.

Addressing SDGs 3 (Good health and wellbeing)[1], 11 (Sustainable
cities and communities)[2] and 17 (Partnerships for the goals )[3],
C/Can 2025 aims to increase the number of people with access to
quality cancer treatment and care services in cities around the world
with a population greater than 1 million.

This first-of-its-kind multisector initiative has been pioneered
by the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC), in partnership
with the World Economic Forum, the World Bank and others including
city leaders, governments, NGOs, UN agencies, and domestic and
international businesses.

With 1 in 3 people directly affected by cancer, the disease is one
of the world's most pressing health concerns, killing over 8 million
people per year, more than HIV/AIDS, malaria and TB combined.

Cancer is estimated to cost world economies as much as US$1.16
trillion annually[4] - a figure that is projected to grow
exponentially if action is not taken now to reduce the spiralling
growth in the number of cases and the impact on both individuals and
healthcare budgets.

The greatest financial and human impact of cancer is felt within
low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), those least equipped to
respond to this growing burden, but also where rapid urbanisation is
bringing significant public health and sustainable development
challenges.

The global community has committed to reduce premature deaths from
NCDs 25% by 2025[5] and by 33% by 2030, but to date, much of the
effort to reduce mortality has focused on addressing shared risk
factors for cancer and other NCDs.

This alone however is insufficient in being able to meet these
global targets. With 54% of the world's population already living in
cities, and that number expected to rise above 66% in the coming
decades, C/Can 2025 has been conceived to address the urgent need to
move political commitments made at the global level into fully
functional, comprehensive cancer solutions, which can reach the
majority of the world's population, therefore having a direct and
concrete impact on cancer mortality rates and the target to reduce
premature deaths by 2025.

In the first phase of the Challenge, C/Can 2025 will target select
cities from LMICs where the need is greatest. These 'key learning
cities' will provide insight on how the international community,
local civil society and the public sector can best work together to
implement the shared ambitions of C/Can 2025. The first three cities
who have committed to the Challenge are: Asunción, Paraguay; Cali,
Colombia; Yangon, Myanmar.

"This is a milestone for the health and development communities in
that it is the first time such an international coalition of
multisectoral organisations has been established to work with cities
on improving cancer treatment and care," said Cary Adams, CEO of
UICC. "This is a call to action for all sectors to support city
governments with populations above 1 million to respond to the rising
epidemic of cancer and show the world that, together, we can tackle
this disease and save lives."

Arnaud Bernaert, Head of Global Heath and Healthcare at WEF
reiterated this, "Partnering in initiatives like C/Can 2025 represent
a powerful new force for global change. The World Economic Forum is
supporting the innovative City Cancer Challenge because it convenes a
unique set of stakeholders who are going to turn the tide on cancer
in cities around the world."

Also speaking on the panel in Davos today were Michael Berkowitz,
President of the Rockefeller Foundation's 100 Resilient Cities,
Christoph Franz, Chairman of Roche and Edwin Macharia, Partner and
Regional Director of Africa for Dalberg.

C/Can 2025 anticipates upwards of 80 cities being committed to the
Challenge by the end of 2019 and that by 2025, when the UN measures
progress against global NCD targets, the cancer community will be
able to show how cities around the world are curing more cancer
patients than ever before.

Founding partners of C/Can 2025 include: The World Economic Forum,
World Bank, American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), Icon Group,
National Cancer Institute, US (NCI) and University of Pittsburgh
Medical Centre (UPMC) and a coalition of 22 pharmaceutical companies.

Notes to the editor

About UICC

The Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) is the largest
international cancer membership organisation in the world. It has
more than 1,000 organisational members in 162 countries.

UICC is dedicated to taking the lead in convening, capacity
building and advocacy initiatives that unite the cancer community to
reduce the global cancer burden, promote greater equity, and
integrate cancer control into the world health and development
agenda.

Through UICC's UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) status,
UICC enjoys formal relationships with many UN agencies, including the
World Health Organization (WHO), the International Agency for
Research on Cancer (IARC), the International Atomic Energy Agency
(IAEA) and others.

UICC has partners across all industry sectors and has access to
the world's experts in practically every domain of cancer control.
Over many years, UICC has earned a reputation for being an
independent, objective voice for cancer control, willing and able to
bring together parties committed to delivering global change through
the implementation and scale-up of quality and sustainable programmes
that address the global burden of cancer and other non-communicable
diseases (NCDs).

UICC is a founding member of the NCD Alliance, a global civil
society network that now represents almost 2,000 organisations in 170
countries.

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1. SDG 3: Good health and well-being - Ensure healthy lives and
promote well-being for all at all ages (Specifically, target 4 of
goal 3 (3.4) which states: By 2030, reduce by one third premature
mortality from non-communicable diseases through prevention and
treatment and promote mental health and well-being)

2. SDG 11: Sustainable cities and communities - Make cities and
human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable

3. SDG 17: Partnerships for the goals - Strengthen the means of
implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable
development

4. http://www.who.int/gho/publications/mdgs-sdgs/MDGs-SDGs2015_cha
pter6_snapshot_cancer.pdf?ua=1

5. Global Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of NCDs
2013-2020 http://www.who.int/nmh/events/ncd_action_plan/en/

For more information, please visit http://www.uicc.org/CCan2025

Follow @UICC (https://twitter.com/uicc) #CCan2025
(https://twitter.com/search?f=tweets&q=%23CCan2025&src=typd) on
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ots Originaltext: International Union Against Cancer (UICC)
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