Chairman,
Distinguished Members of the Governing Council,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It gives me great pleasure to be here at the Forty-first Session of
the Governing Council of the International Agency for Research on
Cancer. The Agency continues to support cancer research at the
international level and has made many important scientific contributions
in this area since the last Session in May 1999.
The challenges that the world faces in noncommunicable diseases
prevention and control are enormous. In the developing world, these
diseases including cancer are fast replacing the traditional enemies, in
particular infectious diseases and malnutrition as leading causes of
disability and premature death. The rapid rise in the magnitude of these
problems represents one of the major health challenges to global
development in the 21st century and threatens the lives and
health of millions of people. Globally, cancers are now responsible for
an increasing proportion of mortality and years lived with disability.
Among cancers, the most significant cause of disease burden is lung
cancer, which is projected to become even more prevalent over the next
few decades, if current smoking trends continue.
To enable WHO to address the huge challenge posed by noncommunicable
diseases, a much higher priority was given to the prevention and control
of these diseases when I took office in July 1998. During the last
Session of the Governing Council in May last year, I spoke about the
restructuring that was introduced almost two years ago and its impact on
strengthening WHO’s global role and responsibilities in the
noncommunicable disease area. Much good work has taken place since then
and today, I am pleased to report on two major developments in this
area.
The first is the formulation of the global strategy for the
prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases, which has recently
been discussed and endorsed by the Executive Board during its last
Session in January 2000. The strategy has three main objectives:
- to map the emerging noncommunicable disease epidemics and to analyse
the social, economic, behavioural and political determinants with
particular reference to poor and disadvantaged populations, in order to
provide guidance for policy and legislative measures.
- to reduce the exposure of individuals and populations to the major
determinants and to prevent the emergence of preventable common risk
factors such as smoking, unhealthy diet and physical inactivity.
- to strengthen health care for people with noncommunicable diseases
by supporting health sector reform and cost-effective interventions.
The strategy, which was developed last year with active participation
of Dr Paul Kleihues and several staff members from the Agency,
recognises cancer control as one of the major areas of work; it outlines
the strategic directions that will guide our future work, and identifies
the role of WHO, Member States and the international community in the
struggle against cancer and other noncommunicable diseases. WHO will
focus on four broad interrelated areas which include strategic support
for research and development. The high priority given to cancer was also
addressed in my report to the 105th Session of the Executive
Board on the strategic agenda for the WHO Secretariat.
The second development relates to our organizational structure at WHO
Headquarters. As we move towards a more extensive phase of implementing
our strategies, reaching out to our Member States and strengthening our
collaboration with external partners, I have recently decided to merge
the Noncommunicable Diseases Cluster and the Social Change and Mental
Health Cluster to become the new Cluster called Noncommunicable Diseases
and Mental Health. This step provides further support to our work in
noncommunicable diseases and enhances the synergies between these key
areas of work.
In addition to these two developments, I would also like to refer to
the excellent work accomplished since your last meeting in our fight
against tobacco. Working together with Member States, our partners in
the United Nations family and the international community, we have been
able to move forward in the development of the Framework Convention on
Tobacco Control. The misinformation campaign in relation to IARC’s
work on lung cancer risk associated with passive smoking, is just one
example of the enormous pressure and obstacles created to impede the
development of the FCTC.
As you know, the Programme on Cancer Control has recently moved back
to WHO Headquarters in Geneva and has now developed plans to accelerate
its response to the global cancer challenge and to contribute to the
implementation of the global strategy for noncommunicable disease
prevention and control. The programme will strengthen its efforts in
assisting Member States in developing and strengthening national cancer
control programmes. An integrated approach to primary prevention,
promoting early detection activities, strengthening treatment
particularly in low-resource situations, and upgrading palliative care
services will represent the core of WHO's strategies in cancer control.
This year, emphasis is being placed on two areas of work: reviewing the
progress made during the last ten years in developing cancer control
programmes in Member States, and strengthening collaboration and joint
work with other international partners. The objective is to build a much
more forceful global collaboration in cancer control. We need to adopt
effective approaches that build on previous work but at the same time
focus on overcoming existing constraints especially in developing
countries where more than half of cancers occur and where the burden
from cancer is progressively rising.
Within WHO, building stronger links between the programme and the
various units in IARC is a prerequisite for future achievements in
cancer control. Integration of work between cancer research and public
health action is essential. There are now increasing demands and
expectations for cancer research to strengthen the evidence base of
preventive interventions. Last year, I shared with you my satisfaction
on the level of collaboration that was developing between the
Noncommunicable Disease Cluster and the Agency. Today, I am very pleased
to see that such collaboration and interaction is becoming even stronger
this year. During the last two months alone two meetings between staff
of the Agency and the Programme on Cancer Control have taken place,
first in Geneva and later here in Lyon with important implications on
planning and future joint work.
I have read with interest the Biennial Report 1998-1999 and the
Report of the Thirty-sixth Session of the Scientific Council. They
highlight the scientific activities of the Agency in cancer epidemiology
and aetiology, mechanisms of carcinogenesis and cancer prevention and
the impressive list of scientific publications produced during this
period. The Scientific Council makes important observations and
conclusions, which you will be discussing today. There are many exciting
areas in the primary and secondary prevention of cancer that could
benefit from further interaction between the various units and other
parts of WHO. A specific area of high priority for WHO in secondary
prevention is early detection and screening of cervical cancer. I agree
with the conclusions of the Council that in certain areas of work, a
more co-ordinated and integrated response can bring about more
achievements and a stronger impact.
Finally, I wish to congratulate Dr Kleihues and his staff for their
achievements and express my appreciation to the Scientific Council
Members for their important work.
I wish you a productive meeting and look forward to your conclusions
and recommendations.
Thank you. |
