Survivors of the disease turn global ambassadors for unified battle at UN…..Anuradha Mascarenhas
Indias Poonam Bagai battled colon cancer, Nepals medical oncologist Bijesh Raj Ghimire overcame thyroid cancer, Jamaicas Clover Allen Wilson survived breast cancer.
They are among 100-odd such survivors who have turned global cancer ambassadors, each of whom has told his or her story at their respective missions at the United Nations.
The objective is to focus international attention on cancer. We can, we should and we will conquer cancer is a campaign by the American Cancer Society.
The United Nations General Assembly will meet on the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases on September 19 and 20. John Seffrin, ACS CEO, sees this as a unique opportunity for heads of state to prepare an outcome document with political commitment.
It is the first time the UN has taken up the issue of NCD as a global health priority, says Dr Pankaj Chaturvedi, associate professor, head and neck surgery, Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai. Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad attended a Moscow summit earlier this year, while representatives from India attended other meetings to ensure NCDs are properly addressed.
Among those who shared their stories was Jordans Princess Dina Mired, who is with the King Hussein Cancer Foundation. My son was two when he was detected with cancer, Princess Mired said. He is now 13.
Bagai, founder of CanKids… KidsCan, Indian Cancer Society, recalls when she was in Warsaw in November 2000. I blacked out in my sons classroom. I spent the day in a clinic with excruciating abdominal pain… in an emergency procedure, a tumour the size of a ping pong ball was removed from my ascending colon.
A year and several medical procedures later, she was well again. By June 2002, she was back in India.
Bagai said the threat of death made me more aware of my life. I had cancer and I survived. This is how as a cancer ambassador I would like to share my story to give hope to others and ensure that the government strongly commits to the UN meeting on prevention and control of NCDs.
Due to illness and deaths from NCDs, global productivity will suffer a decline of $35 trillion by 2030, according to a WHO-World Economic Forum survey whose preliminary results will be released next month. This is seven times larger than the current level of global health spending, said David Bloom, professor of economics and demography at Harvards School of Public Health.
We expect the UN to take decisive action during the September meeting and all heads of states have responded to the call, Bloom told The Indian Express.
Cary Adams, chief executive officer of the Union for International Cancer Control, said people in poorer countries were getting fatter, lazier, smoking too much tobacco, and eating unhealthy food. Asha Rose Migiro, deputy secretary general, UN, said the campaign will focus on reducing excessive consumption of alcohol and tobacco.