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Your
Majesty, Queen Sonja,
Conference
President Stener Kvinnsland,
UICC
President John Seffrin,
Colleagues,
Ladies and
gentlemen,
It is my pleasure to address you all today at the
opening of this 18th UICC International Cancer Congress
here in Oslo.
Cancer. The word still conjures up deep fears of a
silent killer that creeps up on us without warning. Cancer. Evoking
such dread that it has become a metaphor for grief and pain. There are
over 20 million people living with cancer in the world today. Each of
us will be touched either as a patient, a family member or a friend.
The majority of people with cancer live in the
developing world. The number of new cases is expected to grow by 50%
over the next twenty years, from 10 million today to 15 million by
2020.
Yet, there is much we can do in every country to
prevent, cure and relieve this suffering. With the existing knowledge
it is possible to prevent at least one-third of the cases that occur
every year throughout the world. Where sufficient resources are
available, current knowledge also allows the early detection and
effective treatment of a further one-third of those cases. Pain relief
and palliative care can improve the quality of life of cancer patients
and their families, even in very low resource settings.
Cancer prevention and control are among the most
important scientific and public health challenges of our time.
Understanding and controlling malignant disease have very broad
dimensions. It involves scientific knowledge and experience ranging
from the complexities of intracellular molecular regulation to
individual lifestyle choices. It also requires competent management
and the best use of available resources for planning, implementing and
evaluating disease control strategies.
Our goal is to reduce the morbidity and mortality
from cancer and improve the quality of life of cancer patients and
their families, everywhere in the world.
We have learned that no matter what resource
restraints a country faces, a well-conceived, well-managed national
cancer control programme is able to lower cancer incidence and improve
the lives of people living with cancer.
WHO is assisting our Member States in setting up
such programmes. We provide countries, especially those from the
developing world, with technical assistance for implementing effective
and efficient programmes. We help countries translate knowledge into
practice, and will scale up this work.
A key tool in our work is the new document on
guidelines for national cancer control programmes which we will
present at this Congress.
A comprehensive national cancer programme evaluates
the various ways to control disease and implements those that are the
most cost-effective and beneficial for the population at large. It
should promote the development of treatment guidelines and place
emphasis on prevention and early detection of cancers. It should also
provide as much comfort as possible to patients with advanced disease.
Our era has seen, and continues to see, great
scientific advances in cancer treatment. Treatment for some cancer
types is becoming increasingly effective. Yet poor availability of
treatment and delays in seeking medical attention contribute to lower
survival rates in many developing countries.
Increasing awareness of the signs and symptoms of
cancer is important to facilitate early detection of the disease. But,
all too often, this does not happen in practice and limited resources
are mostly used to treat patients with far-advanced disease, patients
who often do not benefit from the treatment.
We have also learned important lessons in the field
of palliative care. There are low-cost, community approaches
that can reduce the suffering of millions of people around the world
with cancers in advanced stages. Measures for good palliative care are
essential elements in every national cancer control programme.
National cancer control programmes can address such
challenges and become the best and most rational way of coping with
the problem.
Your Majesty,
We see the burden of cancer, but we also see the
potential for action which will save millions of lives affected by
this devastating disease. Where there is concern there is hope. Cancer
will certainly touch each of us in one way or another. Each of us -
peoples, agencies and nations - must all be part of the solution.
Thank you.
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