ESMO Calls for Urgent Action on Cancer Prevention and Control at UN General Assembly High-Level Meetings in September 2023

Ahead of the United Nations General Assembly High Level Meetings (UNGA HLMs) on Sustainable Development Goals, Pandemic Accord and Universal Health Coverage, taking place between 18^th and 21^st September 2023 in New York, ESMO calls for action in three pivotal areas:

1. Advancing the Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) by advocating for equitable cancer care with a specific focus on achieving health-related SDG targets 3.4. 'reducing premature mortality from non-communicable diseases' and 3.8 'universal health coverage', while making sure that public health concerns are fully integrated with, and addressed, across other SDGs.
2. Bolstering pandemic prevention, preparedness and response by calling for the inclusion of wording on access to secondary and tertiary healthcare services, which are already included in the text of the International Health Regulations (IHR) – to be also incorporated in the ‘Pandemic Accord’ (WHO CA+)
3. Accelerating progress in cancer prevention and control globally by achieving Universal Health Coverage by 2030 through the delivery of UHC benefit packages that include a core set of comprehensive, safe, affordable, effective, and high-quality services for prevention, screening, diagnosis, treatment according to guidelines, palliative care, and rehabilitative services for cancer.

The UN General Assembly (UNGA) is the main decision-making body of the UN, representing 193 Member States. The UNGA organises High-Level Meetings at the United Nations headquarters in New York that bring together world leaders, policymakers, and non-state actors to deliberate and set agenda on a multitude of pressing global matters. ESMO contributes to the meetings on topics related to cancer and is dedicated to addressing critical global health challenges at the highest political level. By engaging in such UN dialogues, ESMO helps shape policies on health and well-being, ensuring that cancer patients are not left behind and that cancer professionals’ views are heard in the pursuit of a more equitable and sustainable world.