Conference Presentation, Panel
Global Collaboration to Eradicate Women’s Cancers | Future of Health Summit 2024
Milken InstituteAlice Park, Usman Malami Aliyu, Danielle Carnival, Dave Fredrickson, Roberta Lipson, Gemma Peters
- Women's cancer incidence in sub-Saharan Africa is projected to double over the next two decades, with 75% of the increase attributed to low- and middle-income countries.
- The US Cancer Moonshot aims to reduce the cancer death rate by at least 50% within the next 25 years.
- Nigeria's National Institute for Cancer Research and Treatment (NICRAD) plans to deploy mobile screening vans equipped with ultrasound, mammography (POSCOP), and HPV testing kits in each of its geopolitical regions to serve the 80% of the population in rural and sub-urban areas, while also installing six new radiotherapy machines in six centers to address equipment shortages.
- The US government has increased the NCI budget by $4 billion compared to the prior administration and established ARPA-H as a long-term entity to solve problems unaddressed by investigator-driven research.
- A new US reimbursement model for cancer patient navigation services is set to impact Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurers covering over 250 million Americans.
- The UK projects a near-future total of four million people living with cancer and plans to extend its funded care navigation model from Scotland to England and Wales, although funding for the latter regions is not yet secured.
- The Nigerian Cancer Health Fund has secured a financial commitment between $20 million and $50 million equivalent for the year 2025.
- AstraZeneca intends to expand its pilot cancer access program from six to more centers of excellence in Nigeria and has signed MOUs with Roche and Johnson & Johnson to pilot a 50% to 60% reduction in medication costs.
- AstraZeneca anticipates future innovations will focus on less invasive blood-based detection methods, AI-driven medical scan analysis to mitigate healthcare worker shortages, and therapeutics with improved tolerability profiles combining cell targeting and immune system engagement.
- China's rural provincial project targets covering 15,000 women annually for three years with vaccination and screening, aiming to demonstrate a drop in cervical cancer mortality alongside breast cancer screening.
- The UK is leveraging Boots store card data to develop an ovarian cancer risk checker based on purchasing behaviors related to symptoms like bloating, while the Macmillan organization continues efforts to increase clinical trial participation for women from underrepresented groups.
- Despite Black populations comprising up to 40% of communities like Nigeria, their participation in UK clinical trials currently remains below 5%, highlighting a disparity that policymakers and organizations are urged to address.
- Geopolitical tensions and the US BioSecure Act pose significant risks to global collaboration, potentially hindering access to rich data, innovative communities, and cutting-edge care, prompting calls for harmonized regulatory and clinical trial standards between the US and China.
- Policymakers globally are urged to maintain national cancer control plans as a top priority, including establishing cancer as a national priority with specific tenure in the UK.
- Strategies for eradicating women's cancers are urged to prioritize designing solutions for the least likely to benefit rather than adapting those designed for the majority.