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'

The American Cancer Society has joined ABC News and the United Nations Foundation in the recently launched Million Moms Challenge as part of its commitment to a gender based approach to women's health. 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. Read more here.

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

The African Organisation for Research & Training in Cancer (AORTIC) hosted it's 8th International Conference from November 28 to December 2 in Cairo, Egypt. The theme of this year's conference was 'Entering the 21st Century for Cancer Control in Africa'.

AORTIC's key objectives are to further research relating to cancers prevalent in Africa; support the management of training programs in oncology for health care workers, and to deal with the challenges of creating cancer control and prevention programs, as well as raising public awareness of cancer in Africa.

Our supporters from around the world sent messages of hope to everyone in Africa who is fighting cancer - survivors, advocates, researchers and clinicians. The messages were shown to the hundreds of AORTIC conference attendees. It was a powerful experience for all.

We would like to thank our global cancer ambassadors for your support. Together, we are creating a world with less cancer and more birthdays.

Great News!! The GAVI Alliance Board has just announced its decision to support Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccines in the world’s poorest countries. GAVI’s decision is dependent on negotiations to secure a sustainable price from manufacturers and the countries being able to demonstrate their ability to deliver the vaccines successfully.

Every year cervical cancer kills 275,000 women and 500,000 new cases are diagnosed. About 88% of those deaths occur in developing countries. HPV, which causes cervical cancer, is highly transmissible and infection is very common. The existing HPV vaccines can prevent approximately 70% of cervical cancer cases. A combination of vaccination, screening and treatment is the most effective way to reduce deaths from cervical cancer. HPV vaccines alone are important in the prevention of cervical cancer in low-income countries where screening and treatment services are lacking. The GAVI Alliance's historic decision means up to two 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 American Cancer 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.

The American Cancer Society congratulates GAVI on this landmark announcement. As part of the NCDs and women’s health taskforce we look forward to collaborating with GAVI in its significant effort to invest in women and girls and save lives.

See below for more information on the NCDs and women’s health taskforce.

More than half of all female deaths in low and middle income countries are caused by cancer and other NCDs. The American Cancer Society announced the official launch of a new civil society taskforce on NCDs and women’s health at the U.N. High-level Meeting in September 2011. This taskforce will:

- Advocate for a gender-based approach to NCD prevention and treatment.
- Expand technical capacity and resources of low- and middle-income countries to meet existing and emerging women’s health needs, and
- Support an expanded approach to women’s health throughout life.

Founding members with American Cancer Society include the World Heart Federation, International Planned Parenthood Federation, Family Care International, Union for International Cancer Control, Population Services International, Jhpiego, PATH, Women Deliver and The Partnership for Maternal Newborn and Child Health in a technical advisory role. Through this collaborative approach to women’s health care, the taskforce will further global awareness and expand our collective ability to meet women’s health needs throughout the developing world.

For real-time updates on the American Cancer Society's global work become a fan on Facebook and follow us on 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.

There is tremendous power in numbers and putting a face on a disease that affects almost everyone around the globe. We need you to stand with us. Make your voice heard by sharing your story here and signing the World Cancer Declaration on our Take Action page. And 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.