Invitation letter

20 June 2005

This year marks the launch of the UICC World Cancer Campaign under the theme “my child matters”. Over the coming years, the Campaign will address many aspects of the fight against cancer.

The UICC World Cancer Campaign is in response to the Charter of Paris which was adopted during the 2000 World Summit Against Cancer for the New Millennium. The Charter calls for “an invincible alliance – between researchers, healthcare professionals, patients, government, industry and media – to fight cancer and its greatest allies, which are fear, ignorance and complacency.”

There is an urgent need to scale up awareness of the fight against cancer. Information, education and communication, especially with respect to prevention, early detection, diagnosis and treatment, need strategic focus in order to bring about socio-behavioural changes. In recent years, the fight against cancer has taken a back seat to other public health priorities such as tuberculosis, AIDS and malaria. It should be remembered that cancer claims more lives every year than these three diseases put together.

The UICC World Cancer Campaign, in partnership with sanofi-aventis, is launching a call for projects as an integral component of the Childhood Cancer Campaign under the banner “My child matters”. Each year, more than 160,000 children are diagnosed with cancer, and it is estimated that 90,000 will eventually die of their disease. Although childhood cancers represent a small percentage of all cancers, most of them can be cured if prompt and essential treatment is accessible. However, as 80% of children with cancer live in developing countries where access to information, early detection and effective care and treatment is difficult, more than one in two of these children diagnosed with cancer will die.

The Childhood Cancer Campaign consists of three main components, (1) the call for projects, (2) a worldwide mobilisation and awareness campaign to highlight the effects of childhood cancers, and (3) the preparation of a comprehensive state-of-the-art report on childhood cancers, which will be made available to the general public on World Cancer Day, 4 February 2006.

The following have been selected as pilot countries during the first year of the campaign: Bangladesh, Egypt, Honduras, Morocco, Philippines, Senegal, Tanzania, Ukraine, Venezuela and Vietnam.

Funding for ten projects of up to €50,000 in national currency will be made available for selected projects in these countries based on proposals submitted to the UICC Childhood Cancer Campaign Advisory Steering Committee.*

Projects should aim at:

Projects will be selected for funding based on: feasibility, specific anticipated benefits for children and their families, demonstrated accountability and sustainability, including possible replication of initiatives in countries with similar settings.

Applications are invited from national organisations or institutions for projects that demonstrate innovative and analytic approaches to prevention and the care and support of children living with cancer.

For application forms, email my child matters or phone the UICC Secretariat (Switzerland) at + 41 22 809 1811. The forms can also be downloaded here (in pdf format) or here (in Word format).

Completed forms must be received on or before 30 September 2005 by the UICC Secretariat.

Should you have questions or require further information, please do not hesitate to get in contact with Jose Julio Divino, Global Campaign Coordinator or the sanofi-aventis representative in your country:

We look forward to receiving an application form from your country. Thank you for your interest in this important initiative and continued commitment to the fight against childhood cancers.

Sincerely,

* UICC Childhood Cancer Campaign Advisory Steering Committee
Dr Franco Cavalli, Chair, Advisory Steering Committee (Istituto Oncologico della Svizzera Italiana), Dr Tim Eden (International Society of Paediatric Oncology), Dr Alain Herrera (sanofi-aventis Group), Dr Jean Lemerle (Groupe Franco-Africain d’Oncologie Pédiatrique), Dr Ian Magrath (International Network for Cancer Treatment and Research), Dr Ching-Hon Pui (St Jude Children’s Research Hospital), Dr Hélène Sancho-Garnier (Centre Epidaure), Dr Eva Steliarova-Foucher (International Agency for Research on Cancer), Mr Geoff Thaxter (International Confederation of Childhood Parent Organisations).

Download Invitation letter.pdf