Objective:

THE 9TH STOP CERVICAL, BREAST AND PROSTATE CANCER CONFERENCE.

THEME: INVESTING TO SAVE LIVES: THE ROLE OF PUBLIC & PRIVATE SECTOR PARTNERSHIPS

19TH -21STJULY, 2015

NAIROBI; KENYA

Conference Communiqu

We, the delegates of the 9th stop cervical, breast and prostate cancer conference, do note and acknowledge with great concern the high burden of cervical, breast and prostate cancer in Africa and its devastating effect on our communities, nations and entire region.

We further note that the incidence of cervical, breast and prostate cancer is rapidly rising with parts of Africa recording the highest rates of cervical cancer of up to 40 cases per 100,00 women. This coupled with an unacceptably high mortality rate of up to 57 per 100,000 lives per year results in more women deaths from reproductive health cancers than from all complications related to pregnancy and childbirth.

Although cervical, breast and prostate cancer are largely preventable and curable when detected early, we note the inadequate investments in our infrastructure for prevention, early detection, treatment and palliation across the African region resulting in the high incidence, morbidity and a dismal five-year survival rates for patients with these cancers in Africa.

Under the theme of investing to save lives; the role of public & private sector partnerships, we the delegates of the 9th stop cervical, breast and prostate cancer conference deliberated and agreed upon the following:

To strengthen partnerships and collaborations across the regions towards generating innovative and sustainable home bred solutions to halt and reverse the trends and burden of cervical, breast and prostate cancer in Africa;

To nurture public private partnerships to ensure accelerated access to quality health services focused on early detection, vaccination and continuity of treatment and palliation for cervical cancer;

To engage in targeted advocacy and partnerships towards improving access of Human Papillomavirus Vaccine (HPV) and incorporation of the same into national vaccination programs;

To prioritize Non Communicable Diseases prevention and control in the heath agenda at national, regional and global levels using multi-sectoral engagement in a whole of government approach.

To consolidate efforts toward improved cancer registration to ensure quality, timely and relevant population based cancer data for planning, monitoring, policy formulation and surveillance.

To increase investments in health in order to build resilient health systems that embrace integration of services, task shifting and task sharing as well as community participation and involvement.

To invest in capacity building for a competent cancer workforce by taking advantage of experience sharing, knowledge exchange, innovative virtual platforms, regional mentorship programs and public/private sector partnerships.

To work closely with religious, traditional and community leaders, as well as civil society organizations and the media to promote awareness, health promoting lifestyle choices, screening, early detection, treatment and palliation to improve the prognosis of cervical, breast and prostate cancers.

To support the Forum of African First Ladies Against Breast, Cervical and Prostate Cancers in advocating for African governments to initiate, fund and implement national cervical cancer prevention programs.

End of Communiqu

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