Milestones in the Fight Against Cancer

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2009

  • A Joint Programme on Cancer Control is formally signed between WHO headquarters and IAEA. The Joint Programme dovetails WHO's leadership on global health with the IAEA's expertise in radiation medicine. The first WHO-IAEA Steering Committee Meeting was held in Vienna in July.
  • PACT formalizes its partnership with the Lance Armstrong Foundation (LAF). The IAEA joins LAF and other key international health organizations for the first LIVESTRONG Global Cancer Summit, held in Dublin, Ireland, in August. The Summit brought together some 500 participants from 65 countries to mobilize support to fight the growing global cancer crisis.
  • PACT and its international partners including WHO complete preliminary imPACT missions to Mongolia in July and to Uganda in August. The missions are the first step in assisting the countries to develop and implement National Cancer Control Programmes.
  • In June and July, two Regional Coordination and Planning meetings on Cancer Control brought together policy makers from 36 Member States in the Africa and Asia and Pacific regions. The meetings, supported by WHO and 20 international experts, were convened by PACT and the IAEA Technical Cooperation Programme.
  • On the sidelines of the first International Conference on Advances in Radiation Oncology, held in Vienna in April, PACT organized a meeting with manufacturers of radiation based cancer therapy equipment to encourage them to make their technologies more portable and affordable for developing countries.
  • Nicaragua, a PACT Model Demonstration site, bolsters its fight against cancer with the launch in March of a US $750 000 Equinox radiotherapy machine. The machine, donated by MDS Nordion/Best Medical International through the PACT programme, will treat thousands of cancer patients every year.
  • In February, PACT funded three cancer experts on a mission to the Tanzania PMDS to assess the capacity of existing infrastructure and determine training requirements for faculty in radiation oncology and nuclear medicine at the Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (MUHAS).
  • Two United Nations-related organizations join PACT's fight against cancer. The United Nations Women's Guild of Vienna donates €7000 to purchase palliative care beds for children with cancer in Tanzania, and a gift of $5000 from the United Nations Federal Credit Union sponsors nine cancer professionals from Mali, Niger and Senegal to attend palliative care training.
  • Late 2009 will see the launch of a $450,000 Bhabhatron II Teletherpay machine, donated by India to the PACT programme in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. The Bhabhatron unit will mean that Vietnam's Can Tho General Hospital will be able to treat thousands more cancer patients every year.
  • Over $1 million has been raised to date in 2009 from donor Member States.

2008

  • WHO releases a report showing that cancer will surpass heart disease as the world's number one killer. Developing countries will be hardest hit, with cancer incidence growing by as much as 38% by 2030.
  • PACT mobilizes $13.5 million in long term development loans for cancer control in Ghana, funded by the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) and the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA).
  • All PACT countries complete National Cancer Control Plans. Shared and immediate cancer priorities include palliative care to help the vast majority of patients arriving with late stages of the disease, and screening programmes for cervical cancer, one of the deadliest forms of cancer for women in developing countries.
  • Monaco hosts Mohamed El Baradei, IAEA Director General, at a special gala dinner to build awareness for PACT.
  • Member States and PACT partners contribute a total of $1.5 million in cost free short-term experts between 2004 and 2008 to PACT projects, adding to an additional $1.5 million in 2008 donations from Member States, organizations and individuals.
  • Member States continue to see the value and necessity of PACT's work. To date, over 50 low and middle income Member States have formally requested assistance from PACT to assess the cancer burden in their countries, design strategies to address it, and mobilize resources.

2007

  • Over 70 health professionals from developing countries are supported by PACT to attend international training courses on cancer control.
  • Albania, Nicaragua, Sri Lanka and Yemen hold their first national meetings on cancer control. Tanzania and Vietnam establish national Steering Committees and working groups begin to plan cancer control implementation priorities.
  • OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) contributes $500,000 as seed funding for PMDS projects in Albania, Nicaragua and Tanzania brining total donations, pledges and in-kind contributions to over $2.4 million for the year.
  • High level meetings in London under the auspices of PACT and the University of Oxford bring together top policy-makers, cancer professionals and donors from around the world. Health Ministers from more than 10 African countries attend to plan for cancer control programmes across the region.
  • More than 60 of the world's leading cancer experts are brought together by the IAEA and PACT to assess Latin America's growing cancer burden.
  • The Republic of Korea establishes a unique fund to support PACT. It is the first time that individuals, rather than governments or large organisations, have been moved to voluntarily contribute towards PACT's activities, setting the stage for continued innovative fundraising efforts.

2006

2005

  • World Health Assembly adopts resolution 58.22, on Cancer Prevention and Control, which recognizes that all countries should urgently take stock of their health service priorities and make cancer of prime importance at the national level. It welcomes the IAEA's PACT initiative and asks the Director General of WHO to explore the development of a joint program with IAEA on cancer prevention, control, treatment, and research.
  • IAEA Member States adopt a resolution at the IAEA General Conference to request continued support for PACT and its mandate of forging links between the private and public sectors to fight cancer.
  • Nobel Peace Prize Awarded to IAEA. Board of Governors uses award money (€575,000) to set up the IAEA Nobel Cancer and Nutrition Fund, the basis of funding support for PACT.
  • December 1: PACT Programme Office officially opened within the IAEA and Mr Massoud Samiei is appointed Head of the new initiative.
  • MDS Nordion of Canada announces a donation of up to 3 Theratron cobalt radiotherapy machines, each valued at $750,000.

2004

  • WHO Executive Board recommends a first-of-a-kind Resolution in Cancer Prevention and Control to bring the world's attention to the cancer crisis in developing countries and its devastating social and economic consequences.
  • IAEA Board of Governors endorses the creation of the Programme of Action for Cancer Therapy (PACT), building upon the IAEA's radiotherapy and nuclear imaging services to include the entire spectrum of cancer prevention and control.
  • IAEA Member States endorse PACT in a General Conference Resolution.
  • US Department of State donates $300,000 to help support the conceptual and operational development of PACT.

2003

  • New data on the shocking rise of cancer in developing countries leads the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Union Against Cancer (UICC) to issue a global call for action. WHO warns of a doubling of cancer cases in the developing world over the next 10 years. 84 million people, most of them in poor countries, will die by 2015 if action is not taken.
  • IAEA publishes the brochure Silent Crisis to highlight the IAEA's experiences and achievements in radiotherapy and nuclear imaging in developing countries — critical tools in the fight against cancer — and the growing need for these services.
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