Bente Mikkelsen: WHO-IAEA-IARC Annual Meeting

Bente Mikkelsen, Director of NCD, WHO, resently posted on LinkedIn

“This was an important occasion to take stock of our joint work within the UN and to envision a stronger future together.

We stand at a critical juncture to manage the needs of people with cancer and other non-communicable diseases.
Progress has been made over the past decade. But, the current situation in cancer control is unacceptable.

The burden continues to rise rapidly. Millions do not have access to care. Families are being pushed into poverty.
Our future is a shared future. And, our success is a shared success. We will be measured by whether we deliver on the commitment to health for all, inclusive of people affected by cancer.

As individual agencies, WHO, IAEA, and IARC have achieved significant milestones in the past decade. At WHO, we have expanded our country support strategies to deliver concrete results in more than 75 countries. That is an increase from only 10 countries in 2015.

We have developed tools to support countries in formulating cancer policies, scaling up cancer programs, generating investment cases and strengthen workforce capacity.

This has been rooted in our three WHO cancer initiatives and the strong mandate Member States have provided to increase our focus on NCDs including cancer.

The next chapter must ensure a shared strategic agenda and to provide coordinated support to governments together.
I want to highlight three important guiding principles toward shared impact.

First, we must improve coordination in country support though structured, country-led dialogues. Our Member States should see our work as integrated and coordinated. We cannot present governments vertical initiatives.

Second, we should better align our capacity building activities to ensure they are evidence-based, sustainable and impactful. We must focus on sustained engagement.

Finally, we will work together for a monitoring framework that shares best practices, promotes research and enhances accountability. Data will drive progress. And, we must invest in data systems that are country-owned and country-driven.

The meeting confirmed the commitment to intensify collaboration – at management level, technical cooperation and for country impact. The more we organize ourselves, the greater impact we can have.
Together, we work towards a brighter future for global cancer control.”

Source: Bente Mikkelsen/LinkedIn