2022
World Health Assembly, 22-28 May 2022
- ESMO President, Solange Peters delivered an ESMO statement on the topic of Human Resources for Health. She noted that the ever-growing cancer burden highlights the urgent need for more specialized cancer doctors to achieve universal health coverage. The ESMO statement noted that countries need a sufficient number of well-trained and well-equipped workforce of cancer professionals to ensure quality delivers of preventative strategies, timely diagnosis, and the safe and effective administration of cancer therapies and palliative care services. It also raised awareness that the ESMO Global Curriculum in Medical Oncology can support countries in the training of medical oncologists, noting the curriculum is freely available on the ESMO website.
- ESMO Director of Public Policy, Rosa Giuliani delivered an ESMO statement was on the topic of ‘Follow-up to the political declaration of the third high-level meeting of the General Assembly on the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases’. ESMO welcomed the many NCD strategies under this agenda item, and called on countries to implement them to support achieving universal health coverage and resilient health systems. ESMO urged the integration of these strategies into national NCD plans to avoid the delays and disruptions in cancer services reported by WHO during the current pandemic and health emergencies. To support countries in planning and prioritizing their cancer services, ESMO highlighted its evidence-based ESMO Clinical Practice Guidelines, that set the standard of cancer care, and have also been adapted for cancer management during the global pandemic and can be found on the ESMO COVID-19 and Cancer portal.
- ESMO Director of Public Policy, Rosa Giuliani delivered an ESMO statement on the topic of ‘The Public Health Dimension of the World Drug Problem’. ESMO welcomed the WHO Director General’s Report on the World Drug Problem and the need to improve access to controlled medicines which are used for legitimate medical purposes to relieve pain and suffering. WHO statistics state only 14% of people in need of palliative care each year actually receive it due to unnecessarily restrictive regulatory barrier, and ESMO finds this unacceptable. The ESMO statement raised awareness that the ESMO Global Opioid Policy Initiative provided 10 recommendations to reduce those barriers. In addition, ESMO requested that countries at least provide patients the palliative care medicines on the WHO Model List of Essential Medicines, and that licensed physicians are properly trained to use opioid medications to relieve cancer pain.
150th WHO Executive Board Meeting, 24-29 January 2022
ESMO delivered a statement on the Political declaration of the third high-level meeting of the General Assembly on the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases. The ESMO statement welcomed the WHO strategies on the prevention and control of NCDs - which include cancer, focusing, among others, on addressing the reduction of the harmful use of tobacco and alcohol, as well as the issue of preventing and managing obesity, and promoting oral and mental health. Of particular importance, WHO noted that there has been progress in the implementation of the global strategy to accelerate the elimination of cervical cancer as a public health problem and in the achievement of its associated goals and targets for the period 2020–2030. The ESMO statement called for WHO Member States to ensure continued patient access to essential cancer and palliative care medicines and services that are affordable and do not compete with resources for health emergencies.
Achievements from past years
2021
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World Health Assembly Special Session, 29 November – 1 December 2021
On the occasion of the Special Session of the World Health Assembly where the WHO Member States agreed by consensus to begin a global process to draft and negotiate an international instrument to strengthen pandemic prevention, preparedness and response, ESMO delivered an official statement calling for all response to health emergencies to be legally binding and to:- Reinforce health as a fundamental right,
- Promote health and reduce health risk factors,
- Build up and protecting the health workforce,
- Maintain the provision of healthcare services for people with pre-existing conditions such as cancer.
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The 71st Session of the WHO Regional Committee for Europe, 13-15 September 2021
- An ESMO Statement submitted to the 71st Session of the WHO Regional Committee for Europe welcomed the Resolution on the European Immunization Agenda 2030, which urges Member States to enhance commitment to immunisation as a public health priority and commit to achieving the vision and goals outlined in the European Immunization Agenda 2030.
- An ESMO Statement submitted to the 71st Session of the WHO Regional Committee for Europe welcomed the Resolution that was adopted ‘Realizing the potential of primary health care: lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic and implications for future directions in the WHO European Region’, which urges Member States to strengthen governance mechanisms for primary health care to ensure greater responsiveness to regional and local needs, and to prioritize financing and resourcing for primary health care. The ESMO statement highlighted ESMO resources that can support governments to achieve these goals such as the ESMO-ASCO Global Curriculum in Medical Oncology, the ESMO Clinical Practice Guides, the ESMO-Magnitude of Clinical Benefit Scale.
- An ESMO Statement submitted to the 71st Session of the WHO Regional Committee for Europe welcomed the report ‘Response to the COVID-19 pandemic: lessons learned to date from the WHO European Region’. In the statement, ESMO agreed with the ambitious and comprehensive measures proposed, and asked Member States to include more detailed measures in national health emergency plans.
- The UN High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development, 6-15 July 2021: The High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) is the main United Nations platform for the follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Forum is held annually under the under the auspices of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), the central coordinator of UN activities and overseer of the implementation of the UN SDGs for 2030. As granted by ESMO’s ‘special consultative status’ with ECOSOC, ESMO submitted an official statement during the Forum. The ESMO statement expressed concern that the 2020 WHO Report on Cancer stated that only 12 countries are on track to achieve target 3.4 for cancer by 2030 and noted its various resources that can support the reduction of premature cancer deaths.
- 2021 Open Session of the Meeting of the WHO Expert Committee on the Selection and Use of Essential Medicines, 21 June 2021: During the 2021 Open Session of the WHO Expert Committee’s meeting, Rosa Giuliani, ESMO Director of Public Policy, presented an update on some of ESMO activities to improve access to medicines. She stated that clinically meaningful cancer medicines are those on the WHO Model List of Essential Medicines and those with a high score on the ESMO-Magnitude of Clinical Benefit Scale (ESMO-MCBS). She noted that the ESMO-MCBS has been acknowledged by the World Health Organisation as “a screening tool to identify cancer treatments that have potential therapeutic value that warrants full evaluation for the Essential Medicines List listing”.
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The 74th World Health Assembly 24 May – 1 June 2021:
- WHO’s COVID-19 Response: An official ESMO statement welcomed the Resolution on Strengthening WHO preparedness for and response to health emergencies, which states that combating a global pandemic requires multi-stakeholder collaboration and encourages WHO to leverage resources developed by professional societies. ESMO’s ‘COVID-19 and Cancer Portal’ and the ‘ESMO Call to Action on COVID-19 Vaccinations and Patients with Cancer: Vaccinate. Monitor. Educate.’ were highlighted as examples of such resources.
- The Healthcare Workforce: An official ESMO statement welcomed the Resolution on ‘Protecting, safeguarding and investing in the health and care workforce’, highlighting the importance of including funding for the education and training of cancer professionals in national cancer control plans. ESMO also highlighted that its ‘Recommendations for a Global Curriculum in Medical Oncology’ can serve as an educational and training resource.
- Prevention of Noncommunicable Diseases: An official ESMO statement supported the Assembly’s decision to extend the mandate of the WHO Global Coordination Mechanism on the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases to 2030. ESMO noted that this mechanism has an essential role in supporting WHO resolutions, UN Political Declarations, and the 2030 UN Sustainable Development Goals to reduce the global burden of cancer, and it called on governments to increase efforts in cancer prevention and access to effective cancer treatments.
- The Social Determinants of Health: An official ESMO statement welcomed the Resolution on Social Determinants of health and called for global solutions that can reduce health inequalities, increase equal access to essential medicines and health services, improve health literacy, and build resilient and sustainable health systems.
- WHO Global Breast Cancer Initiative: In March 2021, the World Health Organization (WHO) launched its Global Breast Cancer Initiative, a collaborative effort with the aim to reduce global breast cancer mortality by 2.5% per year, thereby averting 2.5 million breast cancer deaths globally between 2020 and 2040. ESMO participated in the launch event with a video where Rosa Giuliani, ESMO Director of Public Policy, highlighted the fact that ESMO advocates for timely and equal accessibility and availability to cancer medicines and to the reduction of inequalities in access to quality cancer care. In the video Giuseppe Curigliano 2021 Scientific Co-Chair of the annual ESMO Breast Cancer Congress informed that the Congress delivers a comprehensive overview of practice-changing new data in the field of breast cancer from research to patient care.
- World Cancer Day 2021 – WHO Europe United Action Against Cancer Initiative: In February 2021, ESMO was invited by WHO Europe to speak at a high-level virtual event to launch their new initiative ‘United Action Against Cancer’. Rosa Giuliani, ESMO Director of Public Policy, spoke at the event about inequalities in cancer patient outcomes and noted that addressing inequalities is a part of ESMO’s mission and that ESMO has a clear strategy and blueprint to address the entire continuum of cancer care.
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The 148th WHO Executive Board Meeting, 19-26 January 2021:
- WHO’s COVID-19 Response: ESMO delivered an official statement related to the WHO Director-General’s Report on WHO’s COVID-19 Response, commending WHO’s efforts addressing the global pandemic and highlighting the ESMO Call to Action on COVID-19 vaccinations and patients with cancer: Vaccinate. Monitor. Educate.
- Expanding access to cancer treatments: ESMO delivered an official statement related to the WHO Director-General’s Report on ‘Expanding access to effective treatments for cancer and rare and orphan diseases’, welcoming WHO’s efforts in this area and highlighting ESMO resources that can be useful to Member States such as ESMO Clinical Practice Guidelines and ESMO-MCBS.
- Prevention of Noncommunicable Diseases: ESMO delivered an official statement related to the WHO Director-General’s Report on the UN’s ‘Political Declaration of the third high-level meeting of the General Assembly on the prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases’, calling on countries to fully integrate cancer into national noncommunicable disease plans and universal health coverage benefit packages.
- ESMO’s Official Relations Status:WHO renewed ESMO’s ‘Official Relations’ status based on a 3-year plan for collaboration objectives and activities. ‘Official Relations with WHO’ is a privilege that the WHO Executive Board may grant to nongovernmental organizations that have a continued engagement with WHO, and ESMO has held this status since 2013.
2020
- ESMO’s Special Consultative Status with ECOSOC: In November 2020, ESMO was granted ‘Special Consultative Status’ with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), which is the highest status granted by the UN to non-governmental organisations like ESMO, allowing them to participate in the work of the United Nations. ECOSOC is the central coordinator of UN activities. It is responsible for the coordination of policy reviews, dialogues, and recommendation on economic, social, and environmental development issues, including implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for 2030.
- ESMO Congratulates the United Nations: In September 2020, ESMO congratulated the United Nations on 75 years of achievements in defence of health as a human right which the UN celebrated with a virtual High-Level Meeting to Commemorate the 75th Anniversary of the United Nations. Since 2011, the UN has put noncommunicable diseases, which include cancer, on the global political agenda, with the most recent UN Political Declaration on Noncommuicable Diseases adopted in 2018.
- ESMO Supports WHO Europe: In September 2020, WHO Europe’s European Programme of Work 2020-2025 – “United Action for Better Health in Europe” was adopted at its Regional Committee Meeting. ESMO greeted the adoption of the Programme with an official statement at the meeting, welcoming actions on topics such as protecting and optimizing the health workforce, ensuring palliative care services, bridging healthcare service gaps with technology, and promoting prevention initiatives.
- WHO Report on Cancer: In February 2020 ESMO contributed to the review of the 2020 WHO Report on Cancer: Setting priorities, investing wisely and providing care for all, which provides governments with public policy recommendations necessary to implement the 2017 Cancer Resolution. The Report highlights one example of how ESMO and WHO are worked together with the Ministry of Health of Kazakhstan, to optimize its cancer services and continue to offer its citizens evidence-based comprehensive cancer care as part of universal health coverage plan.
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2020 World Health Assembly:
- WHO Resolution on Cervical Cancer: In February 2020, ESMO endorsed the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Global strategy to accelerate the elimination of cervical cancer as a public health problem and its associated goals and targets for the period 2020–2030 in an official statement at the WHO Executive Board Meeting in Geneva. Several members of the ESMO Gynecological Cancer Faculty provided input to the WHO strategy and in particular on the topic of the management of invasive cervical cancer. In August 2020, as a follow-up to the 2020 World Health Assembly, the 194 WHO Member States officially adopted the strategy.
- WHO COVID-19 Response Resolution: In May 2020, ESMO delivered an official statement in support of the 2020 WHO ‘COVID-19 Response’ Resolution unanimously adopted at the World Health Assembly. The ESMO statement calls on governments to especially protect people at high-risk of COVID-19 such as healthcare professionals and people with pre-existing conditions, including cancer. It requests that health authorities secure the availability of essential cancer and palliative services, and notes that the ESMO-Magnitude of Clinical Benefit Scale can help support value-based decisions for resource allocation. Where shortages exist, ESMO asks governments to provide institutes and clinicians with ethical and methodological decision-making guidance. For cancer patients who cannot, or are afraid to, travel to a hospital for treatment it is essential that countries have in place an action plan.
2019
- 2019 International Universal Health Coverage Day: The joint Kazakhstan-WHO-ESMO project helped to optimise cancer resource allocation in the country, with an overall increase of the cancer budget to ensure that all essential and effective cancer treatments can be offered free of charge to cancer patients within the country’s universal coverage health plan.
- 2019 United Nations High-Level Meeting on Universal Health Coverage: On 23 September 2019, the UN held a High-Level Meeting on Universal Health Coverage: Moving Together to Build a Healthier World’ and adopted a UN Political Declaration on Universal Health Coverage (UHC). The ESMO official statement called on governments prioritize high-impact investments in cancer care by accelerating implementation of the 2017 WHO ‘Cancer Resolution’ (WHA 70.12). ESMO also requested that countries pay for comprehensive essential cancer services within national UHC packages, which is currently lacking in many countries.
- 2019 UN multi-stakeholder hearing on universal health coverage: ESMO provided input to the UN Political Declaration on UHC by submitting an official statement during the on 29 April 2019 UN multi-stakeholder hearing on universal health coverage. The ESMO statement supports universal health coverage for cancer patients based on ESMO’s commitment to health as a human right, not a privilege. The ESMO statement requested that the United Nations Political Declaration on UHC state that "countries must guarantee their entire population ‘universal health coverage benefit packages’ that ensure financial protection for patients, and include a core set of comprehensive, safe, affordable, effective and quality cancer prevention, treatment, and palliative care services delivered by an adequate, and well-trained workforce". This would contribute to reducing cancer deaths worldwide. It would also require that governments strengthen primary care, guarantee referral services to secondary and tertiary facilities, and maintain comprehensive cancer registries to measure progress.
- 2019 World Health Assembly: In May 2019 at the World Health Assembly, the ESMO statement requested that the 2019 UN Political Declaration on Universal Health Coverage (UHC) require universal health coverage packages to include comprehensive cancer and palliative care services. A second ESMO statement focussed on the WHO ‘Draft roadmap for access to medicines, vaccines and other health products, 2019-2023’, calling for improved access to medicines not only at the primary healthcare level but also at the secondary and tertiary levels where cancer care is provided.
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2019 WHO Executive Board Meeting: ESMO delivered three statements with the following messages:
- ESMO requested that the 2019 UN Political Declaration on Universal Health Coverage include the provision of a set of cost-effective essential cancer and palliative care services delivered at the primary and secondary healthcare level.
- ESMO resources such as the ESMO Clinical Practice Guidelines and the ESMO-MCBS can support countries achieve the goals of the WHO Roadmap on Access to Medicines.
- ESMO endorsed the UICC-led statement for a WHO strategy to eliminate cervical cancer.
2018
- 3rd United Nations High-level Meeting on NCDs on 27th September 2018 in New York: ESMO Statement submitted to the UN Secretariat to raise awareness that 30 to 50% of cancer deaths can be avoided with investments in prevention, early detection, and cancer treatment.
- ESMO and ASCO joint statement to the United Nations: Successful request for the inclusion of cancer in the 2018 UN Political Declaration on Non-communicable Diseases. In the final UN Declaration, UN Member States commit to promote access to affordable diagnostic, screening, treatment and care as well as vaccines that lower the risk for cancer, as part of the comprehensive approach to its prevention and control, including cervical and breast cancers.
- Petition to eliminate cervical cancer: ESMO signed the UICC-led petition delivered to the WHO for the 2018 United Nations High-level Meeting on NCDs after the WHO Director General, Dr Tedros called for action to eliminate cervical cancer during the 2018 World Health Assembly.
- 2018 WHO Executive Board Meeting and World Health Assembly in Geneva: ESMO’s official statements noted the importance of cancer within the topics of access to medicines and the UN High-Level Meeting on the Prevention and Control of NCDs.
- Global Cancer Control: Responding to the Growing Burden, Rising Costs and Inequalities in Access: Article published in ESMO Open February 2018, by the ESMO Leadership Generation Programme 2016, the ESMO Leadership and WHO.
2017
- ESMO International Consortium Study on the Availability, out-of-pocket costs and accessibility of antineoplastic medicines in countries outside of Europe: Study published in Annals of Oncology.
- Attended the 140th session of the WHO Executive Board Meeting in Geneva, 23-31 January 2017. As a non-State actor in official relations with WHO, ESMO was invited to attend and presented a position statement on the 2017 WHO Cancer Resolution.
- WHO Global Forum on Medical Devices: ESMO presentation during session on Human Resources for Medical Devices.
- WHO Global Conference on NCDs in Montevideo, Uruguay: ESMO representatives delivered strategic messages on the need to address cancer to achieve the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.
- ESMO-WHO Joint Sessions and Presentations: 2017 ESMO Africa Summit, 2017 ESMO Leadership Generation Program, ESMO 2017 Congress and ESMO Asia 2017.
- WHO Special Session of the Executive Board, 22-23 November: ESMO makes an official statement on WHO work plan 2019-2030, asking WHO to include in the work plan its commitments to the Cancer Resolution and to a High-Level Commission on NCDs.
2016
- United Nations General Assembly Special Session on Drugs, April 2016 ESMO Global Opioid Policy Initiative on barriers to access to opioids supported the adoption of a UN Outcome Statement on ‘Operational recommendations on ensuring the availability of, and access to, controlled substances exclusively for medical and scientific purposes, while preventing their diversion’ .
- WHO World Health Assembly, May 2016 ESMO supported a side event co-hosted by WHO and UICC together with the Ministries of Health from Malaysia, Honduras, India, Jordan, Korea, Kuwait, Peru and Zambia which resulted in these WHO Member States proposing that a Cancer Resolution be prepared and approved at the 2017 World Health Assembly.
- WHO Europe’s Action Plan on Non-communicable Diseases, September 2016 ESMO participated in the consultations at WHO Europe headquarters in Copenhagen and achieved the inclusion in the plan of not only prevention and early detection of cancer, but also recommendations to improve access to treatment.
- ESMO 2016 Congress and ESMO Asia 2016 Joint Sessions with WHO, October & December 2016 ESMO-WHO Europe Joint Symposium: To screen or not to screen for breast cancer?
- Joint Symposium ESMO Global Policy Committee/ AORTIC-SLACOM-UICC-WHO: Innovative strategies for affordability of value-based cancer care.
- ESMO-WHO Special Session: Tobacco use and cancer treatment.
- WHO Model List of Priority Medical Devices, in progress ESMO contributed with expertise on the priority medical devices list for cancer.
- WHO Model List of Essential Medicines, January 2016 Article in ESMO Open 'ESMO and WHO:14 years of working in partnership on cancer control' outlining ESMO’s participation in updating the list with 16 new cancer medicines which collectively impact the treatment options of 26 types of cancer, many of which could not have been treated at all without the newly added medicines.
2015
- Preliminary data for the ESMO International Consortium Study on the Availability of Anti-neoplastic Medicines was presented at the ESMO Society Session during the European Cancer Congress 2015, Vienna, Austria.
2014
- Preliminary data for the ESMO European Consortium Study on the Availability of Anti-neoplastic Medicines across Europe was presented at ESMO 2014 and is now in the peer-review stage. The study is conducted under the auspices of the Emerging Countries Committee. Access the data here.
- 67th World Health Assembly adopts the "Strengthening of palliative care as a component of integrated treatment throughout the life course" resolution. ESMO, UICC, NCD Alliance and other endorsing partners issue palliative care statement at WHA.
- Formation of a Global Cancer Task Force led by Eduardo Cazap (Argentina) and José Martin-Moreno (Spain). The Task Force provides a platform for the exchange of technical and scientific expertise of cancer organisations worldwide who voluntarily come together to provide guidance to the World Health Organization (WHO) on issues related to clinical oncology care. The Task Force is currently focusing on projects related to national-level implementation of the 2013-2020 WHO Global Action Plan on the Prevention and Control of Non-communicable Diseases, whose goal is to reduce preventable deaths from this category of illnesses by 25% by the year 2025.
2013
- First international data on opioid availability published in Annals of Oncology. ESMO reports: Untreated cancer pain a ‘scandal of global proportions'. Find out more about this important initiative and all the advocacy tools available.
2012
- ESMO 2012 Congress plenary presentation webcast and video interviews of the survey results of international collaborative project on the availability and barriers to access of opioids for cancer pain management in Africa, Asia, Latin America & the Caribbean and the Middle East. Read the press release.
- Cancer Prevention Advocacy Training Toolkit for Africa (PDF download) produced by ESMO, the Africa Oxford Cancer Foundation (AfrOx), the African Organisation for Research and Training in Cancer (AORTIC), and the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC). Read the press release.
- ESMO supports World Cancer Day 2012 – Essential medicines for all! The ‘Morphine Manifesto’ (PDF download) compliments the ESMO-led international collaborative project on access to essential medicines and opioids for pain management.
2011
- Data collection for an international collaborative project on the availability and barriers to access to opioids for cancer patients in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East. The project expands on original ESMO/EAPC European survey published in Annals of Oncology in March 2010.
2010
- Afrox-ESMO Cancer Prevention 4 Africa awareness, prevention and early detection campaign.
- ESMO DCTF/UICC/WHO Joint Symposium: Meeting the challenge of managing cervical cancer in the developing world, Milan, Italy
2008
- ESMO DCTF/UICC/WHO Special Symposium: The cancer burden in developing countries the role of prevention, Stockholm, Sweden
2007
- Presentation to Global Health Council, Washington DC, USA
2006
- Developing Countries Special Symposium: Prevention as a weapon to globally fight cancer. The differences in preventive actions between developed and developing countries, Istanbul, Turkey
- Developing Countries Oncology Survey
2005
- Developing Countries Supported Meetings
2004
- ESMO Developing Nations Joint Symposium: Cancer in the developing world – cancer epidemiology and aetiological aspects, Vienna, Austria
2003
- ESMO Developing Countries Task Force established
Last update: September 2022