Miriam Mutebi, Consultant Breast Surgical Oncologist, Immediate Past President of AORTIC- Africa, and UICC Board Member, shared on LinkedIn:
“This post is a few days late; the week in Heidelberg didn’t leave much room for LinkedIn. But the conversation was too important not to share.
We have spent years asking women to come forward early. Now we must ask whether our systems are ready when they do.
This was the central question in my keynote at the DKFZ German Cancer Research Center: Cancer Prevention and Equity: Closing the Invisible Middle.
I refer to the gap between what we know works and what people actually receive as the invisible middle. It includes the financing, workforce, referral pathways and accountability that turn evidence into care.
An invitation to screening creates a responsibility for what follows. Someone must return the result, explain its meaning and ensure that appropriate care is within reach. A woman should not have to become an expert navigator to complete the pathway we invited her to enter.
That responsibility extends across prevention: reducing the risk of cancer developing, detecting disease earlier, and reducing its consequences after diagnosis.
Our measures of progress must follow people through care.
How many received their results? How many reached treatment? Who could afford to return, and who did we lose along the way?
Closing the invisible middle requires funded pathways, locally generated evidence and clear responsibility for the next step.
Thank you to DKFZ for the invitation and to everyone who contributed to the discussion.
Prevention becomes equitable when our systems can carry people through the promise we have made.”
You can also read: UICC Invites Participants to Register for World Health Summit Event on Cancer Prevention and Health Promotion
