Agency staff helping on world stage

From Dr. Simon B. Sutcliffe, President and Acting Chair of British Columbia Cancer Agency:

President’s message: Agency staff helping on world stage

Dr. Simon Sutcliffe, president, BC Cancer Agency, with Firoz Rasul, president of the Aga Khan University Hospital in Karachi.

This September, I had the honour of accepting an award on behalf of the BC Cancer Agency from the Aga Khan University Foundation for our efforts in helping the Foundation establish cancer centres in lesser resourced nations.

Most recently, Rosie Vellani, radiation therapist, (see story in this issue) and Sherali Hussein, retired medical physicist, traveled to Karachi, Pakistan to provide training and help establish protocols for the delivery of radiation therapy. Rosie and Sherali are among many Agency staff who have made a personal commitment to help colleagues practicing in less fortunate circumstances, whether that be through taking sabbaticals or personal leaves and teaching in other countries, or inviting colleagues from abroad to learn from what we do here.

Newsletter, BC Cancer Agency

It’s an unfortunate fact that 90 percent of the countries in the world are resource-poor and if we look at the amount spent on health care, it’s traditionally very low. About two-thirds of those diagnosed with cancer world-wide will die. What makes this more distressing is that we have the knowledge to change those grim statistics. The most meaningful action that resource rich countries, like Canada, can take is to transfer knowledge to those countries who need it and are willing to act on it.

But, it’s of little value to share guidelines and protocols and to say “why don’t you apply these?”, because the way we do things in B.C. may be neither applicable nor relevant in other settings. We need to work with our colleagues abroad, who understand the political, social and economic challenges to apply home-grown solutions. In many cases, those solutions may not be directly related to care, but addressing common risk factors such as poverty, sun exposure, and tobacco.

We need to work with our colleagues abroad, who understand the political, social and economic challenges to apply home-grown solutions. In many cases, those solutions may not be directly related to care, but addressing comon risk factors such as poverty, sun exposure, and tobacco.

And, it’s not just about transferring research or clinical knowledge, but also about sharing knowledge regarding basic health care organization and planning. Many countries don’t have the fundamental data on how many of their people have cancer, what are the most prevalent types of cancer, and what’s the distribution of cancer in relationship to the geography. Those are all key questions that need to be answered before you can plan for an effective cancer control system.

There are huge disparities and inequities in the world, and there are many reasons for that imbalance. But I believe that by attempting to redress the inequities and barriers – as individuals and as an organization – we can positively affect global cancer outcomes. For all of you who are taking action in your own personal way to address the inequities, I commend you for your commitment. As an organization, we can all take collective pride in your accomplishments.

Dr. Simon Sutcliffe
President
BC Cancer Agency

BC Cancer Agency