Developing a roadmap for cancer control in Africa

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Published: 8 Dec 2015
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Prof Ahmed Elzawawy - President of AORTIC

Prof Elzawawy talks to ecancertv at AORTIC 2015 about the development of a roadmap for cancer control in Africa.

He stresses the importance of a multidisciplinary approach which looks at integrating pathology, palliative care, immunotherapy etc. This is, of course, a huge undertaking which involves the input of many organisations.

He speaks with particular reference to the Lalla Salma Foundation in Morocco which is a good example, he says, of a local foundation with international connections that can help achieve a lot both regionally and internationally.

 

In this meeting really we wanted to have a roadmap for cancer control in Africa. The last years we have some studies about what is the situation and passing from plan to action. This way, this year, we have really rich multidisciplinary simultaneous sessions about different aspects of cancer control from pathology to lab to cancer care to early detection, prevention and treatment, palliative care, immunology and radiation oncology and chemotherapy and how to draw a roadmap from all this.

We can’t follow all these activities at the same time, that is why we need time after this conference to just digest and to see. I think that we will have a lot of thought in the coming two years and it is not only for Africa because, as you noticed and all of us noticed, it becomes a conference for the most distinguished organisations worldwide. Coming from the United States there are the American Society, ASCO, all societies and universities in the United States, the International Society, WHO, UICC. This year it was a very remarkable contribution and really help from the Lalla Salma Foundation in Morocco. This is really an example of how a local foundation with international connections can do a lot regionally and internationally and really we are grateful for the help of the Lalla Salma Institute Foundation in Morocco this year. This will start to establish things, I think, in the future between all these bodies.