Launching this coming Thursday 19 November, the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) and World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) have co-developed an online learning platform focused on promoting and enhancing cancer prevention strategies, policies and actions globally. This one-stop shop resource will incorporate especially created materials as well as learning opportunities and events for scientists, policy makers, students, early career researchers and citizens across borders.
This most timely e-learning platform is an integral educational program of the World Cancer Report (WCR), which is the world’s multidisciplinary, reference publication on cancer prevention that covers multiple research areas including epidemiology, etiology, cellular and molecular biology, toxicology and pathology, behavioral and social sciences, public health, biostatistics, and informatics.
Commenting for VHIO’s Global Communications, VHIO’s Director Josep Tabernero said, “An estimated 30-50% of all cancers can be prevented. Cancer control begins with disease prevention through educational programs, well informed strategies, targeted interventions, and policies and planning tailored to each particular geographical region.”
“As oncologists and investigators, we must play a key role in supporting and communicating these necessary actions. Through our research, and a better understanding of cancer prevention, we can join together with other stakeholders in oncology to more effectively control this terrible disease. This platform represents a major step forward in this direction,” added Josep, who is also ESMO’s Past President and currently sits on its Public Policy and Cancer Medicines Committees.
WCR’s prevention learning hub will kick off with its first webinar this Thursday centered on HPV vaccination; coinciding with this week’s official launch of the WHO Global Strategy to accelerate the elimination of cervical cancer.
To discover more about this important e-learning platform and register to join please visit: https://learning.iarc.fr/wcr/about/.
For additional information and background see ESMO’s press release below.
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ESMO and IARC join forces to improve cancer prevention worldwide
- 4 million cancer cases expected by 2040 (+66.7% since 2018), but 30-50% of all cancers are preventable
- Oncologists have a crucial role to play: become knowledgeable and be role models
Lugano, Switzerland, 16 November 2020 – ESMO has announced a collaboration with the WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) to support them in the development of an online learning platform which integrates all research for cancer prevention in one easy-to-access point.
The World Cancer Report Updates learning platform will offer freely accessible learning material based on selected content from the World Cancer Report, the most important resource on cancer prevention published by the IARC every five years.
“ESMO and IARC share a similar goal to promote cancer research and prevention to reduce the global burden of cancer,” says ESMO President Prof Solange Peters. “With this collaboration we are committed to enlarge the base of doctors who are properly educated and trained in key prevention measures,” she says.
ESMO is the leading professional organisation for medical oncology in Europe, counting over 25,000 members in more than 160 countries worldwide, representing a valuable dissemination network for educating oncologists on cancer prevention.
“The World Cancer Report ’updates’ learning platform will bring different communities together around important themes of cancer prevention,” says IARC Director Dr Elisabete Weiderpass. “This will eventually contribute to turn the latest research produced by leading scientists into policy and practical measures to help stakeholders control cancer.”
Learning resources on the World Cancer Report Updates platform will consist of webinars as well as interactive, engaging e-learning modules, serving as a living extension of the WCR, using it both as a source and an inspiration.
The first webinar, scheduled on 19 November 2020, will be about HPV vaccination, in line with the official launch of the WHO Global Strategy to accelerate the elimination of cervical cancer (17 November) under the motto ‘For the first time ever, the world has committed to eliminate a cancer’.
“This is a historic milestone and it gives me pride to see that the WHO technical document for this strategy refers, among others, to the ESMO Clinical Practice Guidelines for cervical cancer management, confirming the relevance of the inclusion of oncologists in cancer prevention efforts,” Peters says.
While the world is still under siege by the Covid-19 pandemic, with cancer screening activities suffering an almost complete shutdown in many countries, “it is even more important to reiterate the importance of early diagnosis, or secondary prevention,” stresses the ESMO President. “Early diagnosis is still the best alternative for the many cancers that cannot yet be prevented and those that occur despite prevention. In most low- and middle-income countries, cancer is diagnosed at an advanced stage, when treatment is generally less effective, more expensive and more disabling: we must act quickly,” Peters says.
With this joint project with IARC, ESMO is calling each and every member to take advantage of this resource, to ensure that oncologists become knowledgeable in prevention, ready to commit to provide guidance and act as role models.
