ESMO is pleased to announce the launch of its newly globalised Patient Advocates Working Group (PAWG).
Composed of 12 members – representatives of patient advocate organisations from Europe, Asia/Pacific, North America, Latin America and Africa – the group will work with the ESMO Director of Public Policy to identify the challenges and opportunities facing patients with cancer and to develop a global patient strategy to contribute in a concrete and tangible way to the delivery of optimal cancer care worldwide.
“Uniting patient advocates from various parts in the world will foster a closer connection, allowing patients to share their diverse backgrounds and feed their insights into a global approach to patient advocacy,” says ESMO Director of Public Policy Jean-Yves Blay. “This collaboration will strengthen our collective ability to develop more impactful strategies to address the global cancer burden, better supporting both patients and carers.”
“Having a global patient advocates group is essential to amplify the voices of those affected by the disease worldwide, helping to secure access to early diagnosis, treatment, and care,” says Zorana Maravic, member of the renewed ESMO PAWG, CEO of Digestive Cancers Europe (DiCE). “Collaboration across borders drives policy change, fosters research and empowers patients to shape a healthcare system that truly meets their needs.”
Following on the inaugural ESMO Patient Engagement Summit, held in Singapore during the ESMO Asia Congress in December 2024, which brought together advocates from across the Asia-Pacific region and led to insightful discussions on the challenges and opportunities in cancer care, the globalisation of the ESMO Patient Advocates Working Group represents an important step towards addressing all facets of cancer care from a collaborative doctor-patient perspective: from access to diagnosis and treatment to prevention; from survivorship issues concerning supportive care and quality of life to patients’ participation in research and innovation.
“It is imperative that we acknowledge the significance of a global patient advocacy group as a crucial and essential component that strengthens the collective oncology expertise,” says Ranjit Kaur Pritam Singh, co-chair of the ESMO Patient Engagement Summit, member of the ESMO PAWG, Advisory Board Member of the Asia Pacific Oncology Alliance (APOA). “When patient advocates, clinicians and policymakers are together and can hear from us all our shared perspectives on how to improve patient outcomes, doctors will benefit too, with increased job satisfaction; clinical research conditions will be improved, and policies will become more aligned with the continuously evolving geopolitical and financial conditions.”
Launching the globalised ESMO Patient Advocates Working Group on World Cancer Day underpins the value that patient advocacy has in the oncology landscape, reinforcing the “United by Unique” theme where each individual experience is elevated through sharing with others.