PD 05 - A Next Era for Women’s Cancer Control

Women take on an enormous burden in cancer - not just themselves, more than 8 million newly diagnosed cases a year, but in caring for family members and continuing their work in communities and the workplace. Historically, societies have not focused enough on the women's perspective of cancer: in recognizing their role in families and community, or in policy decision making. The importance of the role of women in cancer and the work we need to do to improve their outcomes is only slowly being recognized and acted upon - particularly in lower income countries.

Initiatives such as the WHO‘s Global Strategy to Accelerate the Elimination of Cervical Cancer as well as the WHO’s Global Breast Cancer Initiative to reduce breast cancer mortality by 2.5 % per year until 2040 are the foundation to making this a reality. With countries lagging on the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to reduce premature mortality from Noncommunicable Diseases (NCDs) by one third by 2030, more collaborative policy action and investment in cost-effective interventions to scale up efforts regarding the prevention and control of NCDs are urgently needed.

In this session, experts from the public and private sectors will look at how we are tackling women's cancers today, which opportunities we have to increase access and survival rates around the world and how we can provide support for the work women do for others.

Chairs:

Henry Bonsu
International Broadcaster | United Kingdom