Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
21  Febuary, 2001

An Invitation to Make a Difference

Members of the Cancer Advocacy Coalition of Canada (CACC) who attending the recent Ottawa meeting of the Canadian Strategy for Cancer Control have prepared the attached Report from the Conference, along with CACC recommendations regarding the development of a National Strategy for Cancer Control. The recent Conference was a call to action, a reminder that there are urgent needs to be met, and consensus about some basic resolutions, including:

  • Concrete action must be taken now to avert the looming crisis as the baby-boom ages and is increasingly affected by cancer
  • An aggressive and effective advocacy effort must be launched to assist Canadians in their efforts for better access across the continuum from diagnosis to end of life care, prevention strategies and the benefits of applied research
  • Appropriate outcomes measures must be developed and the results widely disseminated, so that patients and the public can understand the effects of cancer control efforts
  • A Special Advisory Committee, accountable to the highest levels of government must be established to receive, implement and oversee a National Cancer Strategy

The Ottawa conference also helped map out some of the obstacles that frustrate the cancer community s needs. A constant theme was how knowledge about the looming crisis in cancer control outside the delegate community was limited, conflicting and poorly understood.

Being Practical

Given the obstacles and complexities of cancer advocacy, the goals embodied in the resolutions cannot be accomplished without incremental advances and actions on many fronts. In developing these actions, we can draw inspiration from the late Hon. Paul Martin, Sr., who advised: Be practical and do something. His son, addressing national voluntary organizations, once said that there is only $10 available for every $100 of requests. The message from the Hon. Paul Martin, Jr. is: Don t whine. Present practical solutions in a loud and clear voice.

Doing Something

In a knowledge-based economy, not only are we avid consumers of information, but we are also messengers thanks to the growing interactivity of digital communications and word-of-mouth.

The Cancer Advocacy Coalition of Canada invites you to share the tremendous asset in our internet website http://www.canceradvocacycoaltion.com/ - which unites people with cancer, the larger cancer community, Conference delegates, cancer specialists and allied health professionals into a single information hub, and from which bridge-building and networking can be achieved at an accelerated pace. This information is designed to allow cancer advocates, independently or collectively, to mobilize by addressing their needs and concerns. In Canada s knowledge-based, highly digitized economy, reliable information about cancer advocacy becomes extremely prized when demand is stimulated. This valuable currency, spent in the right places, creates a climate for influencing public policy in cancer control. The website provides sample letters to politicians along with links and contact information about how you can reach your elected officials, PowerPoint presentations to download and use in meeting with elected officials, information about the CACC Cancer Strategy Meetings for political parties and policy advisors and information about other cancer advocacy projects in development. The website also contains an encyclopedic assortment of information for consumption and retransmission.

Breaking the Silence
To achieve the goal of developing and implementing a National Strategy for Cancer Control, the most effective and proven tactics are:

· Advocacy arguing the case for consensus and collective action among all governments to implement the Strategy

· Communications shaping information to convey specific messages and proposals to specific audiences

· Education disseminating essential information to meet the needs of different constituencies

In essence, cancer Stakeholders become information brokers with the wider world beyond the cancer community. Building solid relationships with key contacts in various sectors creates opportunities for exchanging ideas, developing new strategies and fostering political will in outside constituencies. Networking should be developed in domains such as:

Government relations
Media relations
Public relations
Cancer constituency relations
Health-professional relations
Research-sector relations
Industry relations
Information about the proposed Strategy must be managed in key areas including:
Elected officials and governments
Political parties and their policy advisors
Electronic and print media
 Primary care givers
Hospital administrators
Group insurance administrators
Senior management in the pharmaceutical sector
Professional associations and educational institutions
Established research networks
Information distribution networks
Biotechnology industry
Cancer Secretariat

 Political Advocacy Recommendations:

· Place cancer control prominently on the agenda at the meeting of the Chairs of the Federal/Provincial/Territorial Health Advisory Committees (March 20th) and the Conference of Deputy Ministers of Health (June3rd. National Cancer Survivors Day), with particular attention to seeking a response to the crisis in Human Resources Planning and the recommendations developed by the Canadian Association of Provincial Cancer Agencies (CAPCA)

· Establish a Special Advisory Committee, accountable to the highest levels of government to receive, implement and oversee a National Cancer Strategy 

Conclusion

Cancer remains a low priority at all levels of government despite the millions of Canadians and their family members affected by the disease, the billions of dollars spent each year for treatment and care and the pending health care crisis caused by our aging population. The first step in moving forward with a comprehensive national cancer strategy is to ensure that cancer has a prominent place on the nations political agenda.

The discussions and recommendations of Conference participants marked the beginning of an important dialogue that must continue to advance cancer control as a national priority. The goal of bringing a national cancer control plan to completion and implementation within the next few years is ambitious, and the challenges are many. However, the pending crisis in health care that cancer represents demands decision and action.

While the specifics of the National Strategy for Cancer Control will continue to be refined in the coming weeks and months, delegates to the Consultation Conference have made one thing clear the cancer community is ready to move forward and take action NOW to avert the crisis that lies ahead.

Cancer must take a prominent role on Canada s political agenda. The framework proposed in the Strategy is the practical solution advocates and other Stakeholders are the loud clear voice.

The CACC will provide periodic information updates and tools for advocacy tools throughout the course of the Strategy. Please call or e-mail us with your feedback about the ideas and activities outlined here