The World Cancer Leaders’ Summit is the most important
annual high-level policy meeting dedicated exclusively to influencing global decisions
which impact cancer control. The Summit is convened by the Union for
International Cancer Control (UICC) on behalf of the UN agencies (WHO, IAEA,
IARC) and is hosted for 2021 in the United States by the American Society for
Clinical Pathology (ASCP), a member of MassBIO. Previous Summits have been held
in Paris, Mexico City, Kuala Lumpur, and Nur-Sultan but this convening will be
the first time the meeting has been held in the United States. Boston, as a
center for innovation and global health equity development, was chosen to host
this historic meeting.
The WCLS provides a vital forum to secure a global,
cross-sector response and ensure accountability in addressing a significant
non-communicable disease (NCD), bringing together key decision makers from
around the world and encouraging timely debate on emerging global issues
related to cancer. Confirmed speakers/presentations include Paul Farmer, Atul
Gawande, Holly Kuzmich, David Simas, Suleika Jaouad, Baba Brinkman, Charles
Goddard, Karen Knudsen, Rifat Atun, Paul Limburg, Jill Jim, Dave Craig, Anil D’Cruz,
Michelle Mitchell, Andrea Feigl, Ian Frazer, Satish Gopal, Sue Horton, and Norm
Sharpless to name a few! Additional invitees for this prestigious event include
President and First Lady Biden, former Presidents and First Ladies Clinton and
Bush, as well as other world leaders, presidents, minsters of health, CEOs,
etc. We are excited that our colleagues from HHS, FDA, NIH as well as Roche,
Pfizer, Genetech, Foundation Medicine, PaigeAI, Dana-Farber, ASCO, American
Cancer Society and many others will be joining.
The theme for the 2021 WCLS is: “Driving innovation to
advance cancer control equitably”. One of the major challenges in cancer
control is the rapid evolution of technologies and therapeutics juxtaposed to
increasing gaps in access to cancer care in the United States and abroad. Many
organizations have pushed for a focus on the problems of global oncology since
2010 with a successful response from the World Health Organization in 2018 with
its first cancer resolution. Since that time, three programs, breast cancer,
cervical cancer, and pediatric cancer, launched by the WHO have create a
massive need and an urgency for data and resources in all countries to address
the growing burden of cancer. The WCLS has chosen innovation and equity for the
two-day summit and done so in Boston, a hub of both medical innovation and
medical global health outreach.
Due to COVID-19 challenges, the Summit will be held for the
first time as a hybrid event with more than 150 in person leaders and more than
1000 leaders from around the world attending on the virtual portal. The most
important feature of the WCLS for participating partners and organizations is
the direct, one-on-one engagement between leaders either in person or on the
virtual platform that creates lasting, in depth dialogs around current cancer
challenges.
For
additional details about this event, please contact Dan Milner (dan.milner@ascp.org).