Anna Apel, President at Saving Kids with Cancer Foundation, Strategy Director of Hope for Children Register, shared on LinkedIn:
“Lived Experience Matters.
Healthcare systems need processes, standards, guidelines and quality assurance. They are essential for ensuring safe, effective and equitable care.
But healthcare is not built by ministries, clinicians and policymakers alone. Cancer always affects a person, and health is much more than physical well-being.
That is why I warmly welcome the World Health Organization Global Status Report on Cancer 2026: The Future We Choose Together.
WHO calls for urgent action as new cancer cases are projected to nearly double by 2050
I am honoured to have contributed to this report as a Person With Lived Experience (PWLE). As a childhood cancer survivor and President of a Fundacja Na Ratunek Dzieciom z Chorobą Nowotworową supporting children with cancer and their families, this report is especially meaningful to me.
It reflects a conviction I have held for many years: cancer is never only about medical treatment. It has profound physical, emotional, psychosocial and financial consequences during treatment and long after it ends, influencing survivors’ long-term health and quality of life.
Meaningful engagement of people with lived experience is not simply about giving patients a voice. It is about designing better cancer policies and health systems that truly respond to people’s needs.
The report demonstrates that scientific evidence and lived experience should go hand in hand in shaping cancer policies and health systems.
I am grateful that the World Health Organization has recognised the value of lived experience as an essential component of better, more equitable and more people-centred cancer care.”
To which Salome Meyer, Independent Consultant at Private, added:
“May this report become more than a publication – may it serve as a catalyst for People with Lived Experience to develop and champion Cancer Survivorship Strategies in their own countries.
Our voices matter because they are grounded in real experience. They bring perspectives that data alone cannot capture.
People with lived experience deserve more than consultation – we deserve a meaningful seat at the table, helping to shape policies, programmes, and services across the entire cancer continuum, from prevention and early detection to treatment, survivorship, and palliative care.
When we co-create solutions, we build cancer systems that are more equitable, responsive, and centred on the needs of those they serve.
Together, our voices can transform cancer care.”
Other articles about Cancer Survivorship on OncoDaily.