Insight

Irfan Lone: Day 2 of the European Cancer Summit

consciousconnections.online

Nov 22, 2024, 16:04

Irfan Lone: Day 2 of the European Cancer Summit

Irfan Lone, Former Policy and Communications Advisor for the CANCERless EU project, shared a post on LinkedIn:

“On day 2 of the European Cancer Summit, which was again a wonderful day packed with powerful sessions focussing on quality of life to survivorship, from innovation to excellence, from challenges ahead but from unmatched milestones that cancer community has achieved.

I would like to take a moment to spotlight on the war, unrest and crisis that has been happening and is happening right now around the world and how it has impacted cancer community and access to care.

On a political and global security front, It seems that we are going back to medieval times when killing of innocent citizens, violation of human rights, health and wellbeing is becoming the norm, where war and aggression is a common political language and where clash of ideologies is more valuable than innocent lives.

It makes me worried and it makes all of us worried; not only due to its detrimental immediate implications, but its long term impact and lasting marks on the face of heath care, and I am feeling extremely concerned about this!

However, in the heaviest storms, the sunshine of HOPE shall lead us and I witnessed a lot of it during these 2 days of summit, which truly fills my heart.

I am proud and applaud my friend Anna Uzlova for bringing back Hope and sharing experiences, challenges and resilience of thousands of Ukrainian cancer patients on the table and telling a real world story-a hard reality about thousands of cancer patients in crisis situations who are trying to navigate heath care amid global unrest which is an every day struggle for them.

In war and conflict situations, patients pay the price of cancer multiple times and this must stop now.

These and many others factors are real challenges that need to be discussed, prioritised and amplified with passion, vigour, global solidarity, but most of all a joint action before it is too late.

It was also World Pancreatic Cancer Day, and I also reflect on the growing challenge of pancreatic cancer, which is affecting more and more people across the EU and globally—alarmingly, now at younger ages.

Thanks to the incredible team at Pancreatic Cancer Europe that this issue is now at the forefront of policy, innovation, and advocacy, thus bringing back HOPE again. Let’s unite as a global community to push forward the fight against cancer and all the fights which matter to us, because they matter to cancer community.

A future without cancer is within reach and a future without violence and war is within reach; together, we can make it happen because we are the change and we are the HOPE.”

Irfan Lone