The American Cancer Society joined global tobacco control experts in Singapore for the 15th World Conference on Tobacco OR Health (WCTOH) from March 20 to 24, 2012. This conference draws experts, advocates, and media from more than 100 countries.

As a leading sponsor of this conference, ACS staff joined global colleagues in discussions and events focusing on progress made to date and strategies to save lives from tobacco usage and combat the tactics of the highly profitable and aggressive tobacco control industry. 

Tobacco Atlas: The American Cancer Society (ACS) and World Lung Foundation (WLF) hosted a Tobacco Atlas plenary filled with almost 1,000 attendees. This 4th edition of the Atlas was released at a packed press event at the World Conference on Tobacco OR Health in Singapore on March 21. CEOs Dr. Seffrin and Peter Baldini from ACS and WLF, respectively, presented Atlas findings along with Tobacco Atlas authors Dr. Michael Eriksen, Dr. Judith Mackay, and Dr. Hana Ross. The Atlas shows consumer-friendly graphics and details of the tobacco epidemic and progress made in tobacco control and tactics deployed by the increasingly profitable tobacco industry. In 2011, according to The Tobacco Atlas, tobacco use killed almost 6 million people, with nearly 80% of these deaths occurring in low- and middle-income countries.  When considering 2010 deaths with tobacco industry revenue, the tobacco industry realizes almost $6,000 in profit for each death caused by tobacco. ACS researcher Michal Stoklosa showed a new interactive map on TobaccoAtlas.org that allows users to zero in on city maps to find the numerous, often hidden, tobacco manufacturing plants across the world. For more information visit TobaccoAtlas.org.

Read blog by American Cancer Society Chair Dr. Cynthia LeBlanc to understand how tobacco is one of the greatest threats to young women in developing countries.

Media coverage for release of the Tobacco Atlas, 4th edition

Reuters
Smoking is a drag on world economy: Tobacco Atlas
Smoking deaths triple over decade: tobacco report
Bloomberg charity adds $220 mln to anti-smoking effort

Tobacco Use Killed 6 Million in 2011, Cancer Society Says (Bloomberg)
The Big Smoke (The Economist)
Tobacco atlas: country by country (The Guardian)
Global profits for tobacco trade total $35bn as smoking deaths top 6 million (The Guardian)
Health Buzz: Smoking Deaths Tripled Over Last Decade (U.S. News)
Smoking Deaths Triple over Decade, 1 Billion Expected to Die This Century (Medical Daily)
Tobacco-related deaths triple in a decade (abc2 News)
Tobacco use claimed 6 million lives in 2011, report shows (CBS News)
Fight may cost Big Tobacco a packet (The Sydney Morning Herald)
Turkey tops tobacco-related male deaths with 37.6 percent (Al Arabiya News)
World Tobacco Atlas rings alarm bells for India (The Times of India)
WHO, rights’ groups take on ‘Big Tobacco’ over smoking (The Nation)
Smoking deaths triple - tobacco report (News24)
Health Matters: Tobacco-Related Deaths (WCTV)
Almost 6 million people died from tobacco use in 2011 (Channel News Asia)
Tobacco kills '1 in 6 secs' (BDNews24.com)
'Neutralise finance minister to win tobacco war' (BDNews24.com)
Tobacco-related deaths triple over decade (Ghana Broadcasting Corporation)
Tobacco Industry Profits By $6,000 For Each Death Caused By Tobacco (SPYGHANA)
Smoker? See how you fatten tobacco firms (Rappler)

Luther L. Terry Awards:

The Society recognized tobacco control experts from Australia, Brazil, Canada, India, South Africa, and the United Kingdom at the 2012 Luther L. Terry Awards for Exemplary Leadership in Tobacco Control ceremony on March 21. Society staff and volunteer leadership spoke at the ceremony and recognized the awardees. Dr Margaret Chan, Director-General, World Health Organization, also addressed the ceremony participants.

The awards are named for the late United States Surgeon General Luther L. Terry, M.D., who led the landmark 1964 U.S. Surgeon General’s Report, which identified tobacco use as a cause of lung cancer and other illnesses. Learn more about the nine award recipients here.

NCDs: The Society joined Dr. Howard Koh, Assistant Secretary for Health at the US Department of Health and Human Services to host a Plenary on the UN High-level Meeting on Noncomunicable Diseases organized by the World Health Organization and the Society on Friday, March 23.  That evening, the Society hosted a dinner symposium for 500 people on the future of tobacco control featuring Dr. Koh and distinguished tobacco control advocate Dr. Nigel Gray of Australia.

 We lit the Empire State Building blue and orange on February 3, the eve of World Cancer Day. Our supporters in New York took photos of the event and sent them to us via social media. Thanks to Inga Sarda-Sorensen for the photo above. Make sure to visit our Facebook page and see the other photos our supporters sent us.

In the week preceding World Cancer Day, thousands joined our campaign by "lighting" their Facebook and/or Twitter profile photos blue and orange to show their support for a world with less cancer and more birthdays.

This year, more than ever, we need to show the world we want cancer on the global health and development agenda. Let us continue to work together and raise our voices to make a statement. 

Read GAVI Alliance op-ed 'World Cancer Day 2012: Together it is possible'

More than 10,000 women worldwide lose their lives to cancer each day. And yet this disease still does not receive adequate attention and resources. The American Cancer Society is committed to putting women’s health on the global health agenda.

Taskforce on Women's Health: As a part of this commitment, the Society announced the official launch of a new civil society taskforce on noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and women’s health at the U.N. High-level Meeting in September 2011. Comprised of leading civil society organizations dealing with women’s health, the task force will advocate for a gender-based, lifecycle approach to NCD prevention and treatment.

Million Moms Challenge: In December 2011, the Society joined ABC News and the United Nations Foundation in the Million Moms Challenge. This initiative is aimed at connecting millions of American women with millions of moms in developing countries and raising awareness of maternal issues such as pregnancy, childbirth, children's health and moms' health, including cervical cancer, worldwide.

GAVI Announcement on HPV Vaccines: Cervical cancer kills 275,000 women and 500,000 new cases are diagnosed each year. About 88% of those deaths occur in developing countries. The GAVI Alliance's decision to support HPV vaccines in the world’s poorest countries means up to 2 million women and girls in nine developing countries could be protected from cervical cancer by 2015. The GAVI announcement is the result of long standing global efforts calling for HPV vaccination and improved cervical cancer prevention. The Society, as a founding member and co-chair of Cervical Cancer Action, the hub of global society activity and advocacy on cervical cancer, played a strong role and looks forward to collaborating with GAVI in its significant effort to invest in women and girls and save lives.

Watch our Chief Medical Officer Dr Otis. Brawley speak about the need to raise awareness of cervical cancer in developing countries.

International Women's Day: On March 8, International Women’s Day, the Society hosted a panel discussion in Washington D.C. on women’s health. Thought leaders on global health discussed opportunities and challenges for keeping the momentum on women’s cancers and other NCDs in the forefront this year as global leaders move forward with next steps from last year’s U.N. Political Declaration on NCDs. This was followed with a live twitter Q&A with the moderator of the panel discussion, the Society's deputy chief medical officer Dr. J. Leonard  Lichtenfeld.
On Wednesday, March 7, 2012 the Latin American Union against Women’s Cancers (ULACCAM), a consortium of cancer non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the region supported by the Society, released the results of a “Breast Cancer Control Scorecard.” The scorecard comprises quantitative and qualitative research related to the status of breast cancer control in five countries (Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, and Venezuela). The report, launched simultaneously in all five countries, shows some successes, yet continued government challenges in reaching the poor and in quality of services.

Share a story: Take a moment to read one of our touching stories of women cancer survivors, caregivers and advocates from around the world. Their courage will inspire you. We hope that you will show your support for the fight against women's cancers by sharing these compelling stories on Facebook or Twitter.

The United Nations held its first ever High-level Meeting on Noncommunicable Diseases (NCDs) in New York City on Sept. 19 and 20. On the first day, world leaders unanimously adopted the Political Declaration on NCDs, acknowledging the global burden and threat of NCDs and their impact on the social and economic development in all countries. Recommendations include promoting healthier diets, increased access to cancer vaccines and cancer screening and tobacco-free workplaces. Click here to read the Final Political Declaration in English and here for translations. However, while the Declaration sets out global commitments on actions related to tobacco and cancer, it does not include NCD specific targets. This means that we need to increase our advocacy efforts:

- We need to make sure cancer-relevant goals are included in the Global Targets to be set by the World Health Organization and member states in 2012 (process established in the Political Declaration).
- We need to make sure a UN High-level Meeting on NCDs is held in 2014.
- We need to make sure the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) include cancer, and that cancer is included in the replacement MDGs in 2015. 
- We have to work harder to increase bilateral funding for cancer and other NCDs.
- We have to advocate for a strong role for civil society in the partnership to be created under UN auspices, to facilitate an effective multi-sectorial response for the prevention and control of NCDs.
 

Chronic diseases kill more than 36 million people a year and are projected to cost the global economy nearly $47 trillion in the next 20 years, according to the World Economic Forum. The number of deaths could accelerate to 52 million per year in that time, according to the World Health Organization. Cancer is a leading cause of global deaths, with one in 8 deaths worldwide due to cancer.

Beyond the human toll, NCDs impact a country’s economic development.  According to a study released by the World Economic Forum on September 18, 2011, the global economic impact of NCDs could total US$ 47 trillion over the next 20 years. As daunting as this is, a portion of NCD diagnoses are attributable to modifiable risk factors – things we can do something about – such as tobacco use, diet and exercise, and compliance with proven early detection recommendations.

The U.N. Meeting helped focus global attention on NCDs. Governments must now deliver on their commitments in addressing the rising threat of NCDs. Countries can use the WHO’s new data to cost out their own national NCD plans, pulling together existing plans they might have on the individual diseases and risk factors, and to establish a national coordinating agency, and a monitoring and evaluation framework for tracking progress on tackling NCDs.

The American Cancer Society is committed to leading this fight to make cancer and other NCDs a global priority. Join us in a creating a new global movement to bring NCDs under control in this century, saving millions from premature death and disability.

Our goal is to place cancer on the global health agenda and within the U.N. health and development priorities. But we can’t do it alone. Everyone needs to make their voice heard. Cancer survivors, family, friends, healthcare professionals, advocates, policy makers, media, researchers – anyone touched by cancer – must unite to make cancer a global priority.

That’s what this community is all about – a place where you can learn, connect, share, inspire and be inspired to ease the global burden of cancer. If you or a loved one has been touched by cancer, please consider sharing your story. If you’re an advocate, help us change policy and monitor policy implementation, promote more equitable access to proven interventions, and foster the change of individual behavior on a global scale.

With your help, we can persuade government leaders to increase resources in a coordinated global response against cancer and strengthen health systems, helping to secure a world where the right to a long and healthy life is not bound by nationality or economic status.

Be counted among the new global community leading the fight to bring cancer under control by raising awareness and following us on Facebook and Twitter.

With your help, we can persuade government leaders to increase resources in a coordinated global response against cancer and strengthen health systems, helping to secure a world where the right to a long and healthy life is not bound by nationality or economic status.

1. Click here to sign-up and become an American Cancer Society Global Cancer Ambassador. We need support from every state and country across the globe to make cancer a global health priority at the UN High-level Meeting. Represent your country and/or state in this growing movement.

Our Global Cancer Ambassadors will be the first to know about cancer news and the actions they can take to save lives and create more birthdays in their own countries and around the world.

2. Our goal is to place cancer on the global health agenda and within the UN health and development priorities. But we can’t do it alone. We want this website to become a place where you can learn, connect, share, inspire and be inspired to ease the global burden of cancer. If you or a loved one has been touched by cancer, please consider sharing your story here. If you’re an advocate, help us change policy and monitor policy implementation, promote more equitable access to proven interventions, and foster the change of individual behavior on a global scale.

3. The World Cancer Declaration outlines 11 key targets to be achieved by 2020 in order to significantly reduce the global cancer burden. The document is a tool to help bring the growing cancer crisis to the attention of government leaders and health policymakers. As the custodian of the Declaration, the Union for International Cancer Control encourages priority actions to achieve the Declaration’s targets locally and nationally and promotes a comprehensive response across the globe.
Sign the World Cancer Declaration.

4. Be counted among the new global community leading the fight to bring cancer under control by raising awareness and following ACS Global on Twitter and Facebook.

Explore the links below to learn how we are putting cancer on the global agenda – literally. Watch a special event we hosted June 18-20 at the United Nations. To engage the UN in addressing the global cancer issue, the American Cancer Society hosted the first-ever patient-led campaign called  “We Can, We Should, We Will Conquer Cancer.”

 Watch the recorded web casts:

June 20- ACS and UN Press Briefing

June 20- ACS and UN Journalism Panel

From Brazil to Jordan follow Global News coverage of the event at the ACS Global Programs Blog.

Like ACS Global on Facebook for updates on this event

Follow ACS Global on Twitter for updates on this event

Details: Approximately 100 inspirational Global Cancer “Ambassadors” attended the event, telling compelling stories about how the disease is affecting their countries, their lives and their families. Putting a face on the global cancer burden, they brought their experiences directly to their UN Ambassadors, urging them to help make non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as cancer a global priority deserving of greater resources to save lives. We also hosted journalists from 37 countries to attend key briefings on cancer, meet leading experts, and help mobilize public attention on NCDs. This event advanced the United Nations High-Level Meeting on NCDs from September 19-20, 2011, in New York.

Cancer affects people from all walks of life, from every corner of the earth. Together can we ensure cancer and NCDs are recognized as the pressing health challenge that they are, and are seriously addressed as an issue of development, health and equity.