Brad Rowe live blogs from the panel:
Addressing Cancer in the Developing World: Health Equity and an Overlooked Public Health Crisis
Cancer is the top non-communicable killer in the world, claiming eight million lives a year. Currently, over half of new cancer cases and almost two-thirds of cancer deaths occur in low and middle income countries. In a time in which health is increasingly appreciated as a human right, access to prevention and treatment for the 28 million people worldwide facing cancer is often not available. This special session will focus on efforts underway to increase access to effective diagnosis and quality treatment for cancer in the developing world. It will also explore the work undertaken as a result of two CGI commitments made in 2008 by Lance Armstrong and Felicia Knaul, with partners including Paul Farmer of Partners In Health and Princess Dina Mired of Jordan.
Moderator:
Sanjay Gupta - Chief Medical Correspondent, CNN
Participants:
Charles-Patrick Almazor - Director, Public Sector Partnership, Artibonite Department, Partners In Health
Lance Armstrong - Founder and Chairman, LIVESTRONG
Speaking on his commitment to alleviate cancer in Mexico.
Paul Farmer - Co-Founder, Partners In Health; Chair of the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School; Chief of the Division of Global Health Equity, Brigham and Women’s Hospital; UN Deputy Special Envoy for Haiti
Explained that there are no oncologists in Haiti and Rwanda but there is lots of cancer. High rates of cancer treatment success in Haiti after earthquakes better than traditional western success rates.
Felicia Knaul - Director, Harvard Global Equity Initiative; Founder, Cáncer de mama: Tómatelo a Pecho
HRH Princess Dina Mired - Director General, King Hussein Cancer Foundation
Told the story of how her son was saved because her daughter's cord blood was a good match. Patients from all over the Middle East are looking for treatments. King Hussein of Jordan had a very public fight with cancer. Their initial funding came from St. Jude's hospital.