Africa Cancer Organisation Promoting Cancer Control

The African Cancer Organisation (ACO) which is dedicated to the fight against cancer in Africa has joined the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) to help promote the global cancer control mission.

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of UICC, Cary Adams, in a joint statement mentioned that the ACO was joining the international cancer fighting fraternity at the appropriate time, as the UICC was strengthening its efforts on delivering a suite of capacity building services to make its members more competent for the fight against the disease.

“We entered 2016 with strong foundations following the inclusion of a target to reduce non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in the United Nations' new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),” he said.

“This is a new era of international development and an opportunity for UICC to work together with our members to combat cancer,” he added.

Paul Opoku Agyeman, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of ACO, said the invitation for membership into UICC was in recognition of the organisation's dedication towards the control efforts of the disease in Africa.

Mr Agyeman thanked the UICC for the membership and said the collaboration was timely, as the ACO was transforming itself into a digital health and cancer organisation “with deep knowledge to optimise cancer control in Africa using data analytics to promote prevention, advocacy and research.”

He gave an assurance that the ACO would utilise its membership by exploring all areas of the cancer control continuum to help transfer knowledge, skills and several years of experience from well-developed structures, while adapting them for improved implementation in Africa.

“Such efforts will give ACO the needed leverage to promote its cancer information service, comprehensive screening, cervical cancer control, cancer registries and needs assessment programmes being developed,” Mr Agyeman said.

He called for public support in the fight against the disease and added that the time has come for every individual, business and the government to put resources together to not only help more Africans prevent cancer, but also diagnose cancers at an earlier stage where a cure is often possible.

By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri