Global Task Force on Expanded Access to Cancer Care and Control in Developing Countries
Encyclopedia
The Global Task Force on Expanded Access to Cancer Care and Control in Developing Countries (GTF.CCC) is a research and advisory initiative promoted by the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, the Harvard Global Equity Initiative, the Harvard Medical School
and the Harvard School of Public Health
to address the global burden of cancer in developing countries.
Case fatality for the cancers that can be treated or prevented is much higher in the developing world – a result of grave inequity in the opportunity to survive the disease. In the case of breast cancer, the ratio of deaths to incident cases in 2002 was an estimated 56% in low-income countries, 44% in low-middle income countries and 39% in high-middle income developing countries. In the developed world, it was 24%.
The world faces a huge and largely unperceived cost of inaction from cancer in the developing world, which calls for an immediate and large-scale global response.
, Dean of the Harvard School of Public Health and Lawrence Shulman, Chief Medical Officer and Vice President for Medical Affairs at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. Her Royal Highness Princess Dina Mired of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and Lance Armstrong
serve as Honorary Co-Presidents. The Harvard Global Equity Initiative, under the direction of Felicia Knaul, serves as the Director of the Secretariat for the Task Force.
The report includes the below content:
• A list of priority cancers in the developing world,
• the definition of an essential package of services and drugs,
• estimates of potential demand for drugs,
• designs and strategies for service delivery models that harness the primary and secondary levels of health care systems and expand access while reducing cost,
• mechanisms for regional and global negotiation of drug prices, and
• options for scaling-up service delivery and monitoring health outcomes.
Following the dictum of thinking globally and acting locally, the GTF.CCC reviews and builds on the lessons learned from work in specific countries, as well as dedicating itself to expanding cancer care and control in these countries. Innovative and successful models have been identified constituting three models and spanning five countries of differing levels of income (Rwanda, Malawi, Haiti, Mexico and Jordan). These models will serve as dynamic learning laboratories for generating and applying the specific proposals and delivery models that are designed by the GTF.CCC and detailed in the report introduced above. The pilot programs will specifically focus on developing, designing, implementing and evaluating innovations in delivery in the areas of task shifting, infrastructure shifting and the use of technology.
The GTF.CCC partner projects were chosen based on the opportunity to expand access to cancer care and control, as well as the on-going involvement of members of the GTF.CCC and/or the Secretariat. Thus, this aspect of the work of the GTF.CCC does not involve establishing new projects, but rather working to improve, extend, expand and scale-up initiatives and institutions that are already well-established. The partner programs listed below are locally entrenched and independently sustainable.
For 2010, the local partners and programs are:
• Rwanda, Malawi, Haiti: Partners in Health working with Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School.
• Mexico: the National Commission of Social Protection for Health, the Ministries of Health of the States of Morelos, Jalisco and Nuevo Leon, the National Institute of Public Health of Mexico, the National Cancer Institute of Mexico, the Mexican Health Foundation, and the program Cáncer de mama: Tómatelo a pecho.
• Jordan: King Hussein Cancer Foundation and Center, and the Jordan Breast Cancer Program
Further Reading =
Cancer control opportunities in low- and middle-income countries. Washington, DC: Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, National Academies Press; 2007.
The Lancet. Moving cancer up the global health agenda. Volume 375, Issue 9731, Page 2051, 12 June 2010. http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140673610609427/fulltext?rss=yes
Farmer P, Frenk J, Knaul FM, Shulman LN, Alleyne G, Armstrong L, Atun R, Blayney D, Chen L, Feachem R, Gospodarowicz M, Gralow J, Gupta S, Langer A, Lob-Levyt J, Neal C, Mbewu A, Mired D, Piot P, Reddy KS, Sachs JD, Sarhan M, Seffrin JR. Expansion of cancer care and control in countries of low and middle income: a call to action. Lancet. 2010 August 13. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20709386
External links =
Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School is the graduate medical school of Harvard University. It is located in the Longwood Medical Area of the Mission Hill neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts....
and the Harvard School of Public Health
Harvard School of Public Health
The Harvard School of Public Health is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University, located in the Longwood Area of the Boston, Massachusetts neighborhood of Mission Hill, which is next to Harvard Medical School. HSPH is considered a significant school focusing on health in the...
to address the global burden of cancer in developing countries.
Mandate
The mandate of the GTF.CCC is to design, implement and evaluate innovative strategies for expanding access to cancer prevention, detection and care. The initiative focuses on the creation of global facilities and strategies for the financing and procurement of affordable, essential cancer drugs, vaccines and services for prevention, diagnosis, treatment, survivorship and palliation. Through local partners, the GTF.CCC supports implementation of innovative service delivery models that provide evidence for scaling up access to cancer care and control, and strengthening health systems in developing countries.Justification
Although once considered a problem exclusive to high-income countries, cancer is a leading cause of death and disability in the developing world. Of the 7 million cancer deaths in the world today, approximately 70% occur in developing countries. By 2030, low and middle income countries will bear the brunt of an estimated 27 million new cancer cases and 17 million cancer deaths.Case fatality for the cancers that can be treated or prevented is much higher in the developing world – a result of grave inequity in the opportunity to survive the disease. In the case of breast cancer, the ratio of deaths to incident cases in 2002 was an estimated 56% in low-income countries, 44% in low-middle income countries and 39% in high-middle income developing countries. In the developed world, it was 24%.
The world faces a huge and largely unperceived cost of inaction from cancer in the developing world, which calls for an immediate and large-scale global response.
Structure and Leadership
The Task Force is a 30-member body combining leaders in cancer and global health and Co-chaired by Julio FrenkJulio Frenk
Dr. Julio José Frenk Mora is a Mexican physician and former Secretary of Health of Mexico. On January 1, 2009, Dr. Frenk became Dean of the Faculty and T & G Angelopoulos Professor of Public Health and International Development at the Harvard School of Public Health.-Biography:Dr. Julio Frenk was...
, Dean of the Harvard School of Public Health and Lawrence Shulman, Chief Medical Officer and Vice President for Medical Affairs at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. Her Royal Highness Princess Dina Mired of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and Lance Armstrong
Lance Armstrong
Lance Edward Armstrong is an American former professional road racing cyclist who won the Tour de France a record seven consecutive times, after having survived testicular cancer. He is also the founder and chairman of the Lance Armstrong Foundation for cancer research and support...
serve as Honorary Co-Presidents. The Harvard Global Equity Initiative, under the direction of Felicia Knaul, serves as the Director of the Secretariat for the Task Force.
History
The GTF.CCC was launched on November 4, 2009 at Harvard University during the International Conference ‘Breast Cancer in the Developing World: Meeting the Unforeseen Challenge to Women, Health and Equity.’Activities
A key contribution of the Task Force is the GTF.CCC Report published in 2011. The content of the GTF.CCC Report follows from the mandate of the Task Force and provides the building blocks of a strategy for expanded cancer care and control strategies in the developing world.The report includes the below content:
• A list of priority cancers in the developing world,
• the definition of an essential package of services and drugs,
• estimates of potential demand for drugs,
• designs and strategies for service delivery models that harness the primary and secondary levels of health care systems and expand access while reducing cost,
• mechanisms for regional and global negotiation of drug prices, and
• options for scaling-up service delivery and monitoring health outcomes.
Following the dictum of thinking globally and acting locally, the GTF.CCC reviews and builds on the lessons learned from work in specific countries, as well as dedicating itself to expanding cancer care and control in these countries. Innovative and successful models have been identified constituting three models and spanning five countries of differing levels of income (Rwanda, Malawi, Haiti, Mexico and Jordan). These models will serve as dynamic learning laboratories for generating and applying the specific proposals and delivery models that are designed by the GTF.CCC and detailed in the report introduced above. The pilot programs will specifically focus on developing, designing, implementing and evaluating innovations in delivery in the areas of task shifting, infrastructure shifting and the use of technology.
The GTF.CCC partner projects were chosen based on the opportunity to expand access to cancer care and control, as well as the on-going involvement of members of the GTF.CCC and/or the Secretariat. Thus, this aspect of the work of the GTF.CCC does not involve establishing new projects, but rather working to improve, extend, expand and scale-up initiatives and institutions that are already well-established. The partner programs listed below are locally entrenched and independently sustainable.
For 2010, the local partners and programs are:
• Rwanda, Malawi, Haiti: Partners in Health working with Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School.
• Mexico: the National Commission of Social Protection for Health, the Ministries of Health of the States of Morelos, Jalisco and Nuevo Leon, the National Institute of Public Health of Mexico, the National Cancer Institute of Mexico, the Mexican Health Foundation, and the program Cáncer de mama: Tómatelo a pecho.
• Jordan: King Hussein Cancer Foundation and Center, and the Jordan Breast Cancer Program
Further Reading =
Cancer control opportunities in low- and middle-income countries. Washington, DC: Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, National Academies Press; 2007.
The Lancet. Moving cancer up the global health agenda. Volume 375, Issue 9731, Page 2051, 12 June 2010. http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140673610609427/fulltext?rss=yes
Farmer P, Frenk J, Knaul FM, Shulman LN, Alleyne G, Armstrong L, Atun R, Blayney D, Chen L, Feachem R, Gospodarowicz M, Gralow J, Gupta S, Langer A, Lob-Levyt J, Neal C, Mbewu A, Mired D, Piot P, Reddy KS, Sachs JD, Sarhan M, Seffrin JR. Expansion of cancer care and control in countries of low and middle income: a call to action. Lancet. 2010 August 13. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20709386
External links =
- Harvard Global Equity Initiative
- Dana Farber Cancer Institute
- Harvard School of Public Health
- Partners In Health
- Harvard Medical School
- King Hussein Cancer Foundation and Center
- Jordan Breast Cancer Program
- Tómatelo a Pecho
- Brigham and Women's Hospital
- Official Website of the Global Task Force on Expanded Access to Cancer Care and Control in Developing Countries