McCabe Centre for Law & Cancer

At the annual Regional Committee Meeting for the WHO Western Pacific Region in Manila last week, we were reminded of the power and necessity of working together. Key priorities identified:   🌱 Building climate-resilient health systems 🚭 Urgent action on e-cigarettes 📲 Strengthening digital health capacities   In an inspiring keynote, Regional Director Dr. Saia Ma'u Piukala called on all member states to “weave the mat” of health, fostering stronger community cooperation to achieve our shared goal: a healthier region for all. As the WHO Collaborating Centre on Law and Noncommunicable Disease, we stand ready to support member states to drive forward actions and do our part in weaving health for all.   The side event on tobacco control hosted by Dr Sandro Demaio of Victorian Health Promotion Foundation (VicHealth) was another highlight, where we heard action from Australia, Cook Islands and Singapore, emphasizing the need to accelerate efforts to implement the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control in the region, the only region where all member states are convention parties.    Youth voices were also loud and clear, emphasizing the need for action on e-cigarettes (from the Guam Youth Congress Speaker) and Digital Health, Health Security, Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) and One Health (the IFMSA | International Federation of Medical Students' Associations). We congratulate the World Health Organization and all member states and partners for a successful 75th Regional Committee Meeting. Now, the work begins.    #HealthForAll #TobaccoControl #CancerPrevention #ClimateResilience #DigitalHealth #YouthVoices #WesternPacific #NCDs   Mark Nevin, carmen auste, Tsetsegsaikhan Batmunkh, Union for International Cancer Control (UICC), Ma-Anne Rosales-Sto. Domingo, Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance (SEATCA) IPSF Asia Pacific Regional Office (IPSF APRO), IPSF - International Pharmaceutical Students' Federation Lily Vinch

What an inspiring few days at the Oceania Tobacco Control Conference on the Gold Coast! With the theme, “Reignite the Fight”, we’ve heard from veteran leaders with decades of battle against the tobacco industry who are still keeping their fires burning, and from new voices bringing insights on the complex challenges of new products and influencing young people for healthier habits. Some highlights for me so far were: 💪🏽hearing from Indigenous leaders such as Prof Tom Calma on supporting communities to end nicotine dependence 🔍learning from Prof Pamela Ling on the industry’s attempts to “pharmaceuticalise” tobacco 🌸 hearing from Pacific leaders on health promotion collaborations in the Cook Islands. Our McCabe Centre for Law & Cancer team was thrilled to contribute to 7 presentations, plenaries and workshops so far - we have one workshop to go on tobacco industry interference- which is sure to be a cracker! If you are at #OTCC24 I’d love to connect on this last day, or to follow up discussions on how law is a crucial element in ending the #tobacco epidemic. With 1.8M per year deaths globally due to lung #cancer, and 8M deaths due to tobacco, the challenge is clear. Thanks to Cancer Council NSW Cancer Council Queensland and Cancer Council WA for organising a wonderful meeting. 🔥🔥🔥 Suzanne Zhou Delphina Kerslake Anasha Flintoff

“The tobacco industry continues to manipulate messaging and policy to draw in young people to buy their products, without concern for the devastating outcomes. This week, we’ll be sharing approaches, challenges and learnings, as we continue to work with leading experts in our region and beyond to improve law and policy in tobacco and e-cigarette control” - Hayley Jones, Director, McCabe Centre. We are at the Oceania Tobacco Control Conference (#OTCC24), presenting on issues including tobacco industry interference, global governance for tobacco control, human rights, the plastics treaty, and reducing supply of tobacco, across eight sessions, including two plenary panels, two workshops, one poster, and three long oral presentations. This biennial event provides a unique opportunity to bring together tobacco control researchers, advocates, policy makers and program administrators from Australia, New Zealand and Pacific Island nations. Held at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre this year, the conference is hosted jointly by Cancer Council NSW, Cancer Council Western Australia, Cancer Council Queensland. Our presentations: Wednesday 23 October: - COP this: How can we progress actions of the WHO FCTC Conference of the Parties? Workshop including Hayley Jones & Delphina Kerslake. - Reducing tobacco supply—Where do we want to end up…and what will get us there? Plenary session including Hayley Jones. Thursday 24 October: - “I’m both smoking and vaping.” How the industry targets marketing and manipulates policy to capture young adults. Plenary session including Suzanne Zhou. - Lessons learned from 10 years of the WHO FCTC Knowledge Hub on Legal Challenges. Presented by: Suzanne Zhou & Hayley Jones. - The Plastics Treaty: Potential Implications for Cigarette Filters and E-Cigarettes. Presented by: Anasha Flintoff. - Advancing human rights and tobacco control: a mutually reinforcing agenda. Presented by: Hayley Jones - Comparative e-cigarette regulation – diverse country approaches, common challenges. Presented by: Suzanne Zhou. Friday 25 October: - Tackling tobacco industry interference through law, policy and practice. Workshop including Suzanne Zhou and Delphina Taoa Kerslake. We are thrilled to be collaborating with colleagues across Cancer Council, Quit, research institutions, civil society and government on these sessions, and we hope to see you there! #cancer #cancerprevention #cancercontrol #tobaccocontrol Cancer Council Australia

We are very pleased to be joining health ministers and other leaders from the World Health Organization WPRO Region this week to discuss critical health issues like climate resilience, digital health, primary health care, health financing, and oral health. #NCDs Our Regional Manager for Asia, Ma-Anne Rosales-Sto. Domingo (below right) is photographed here with Dr Tsetsegsaikhan Batmunkh, CEO, National Cancer Council of Mongolia (left) and carmen auste, CEO, Cancer Warriors Foundation Philippines (middle), at the Seventy-fifth session of the World Health Organization Regional Committee for the Western Pacific being held in Manila, Philippines this week. Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) #RCM75

Our McCabe Centre team would like to congratulate all newly elected board members for the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) - 2024-2026, including President-elect Zainab Shinkafi-Bagudu from Nigeria (2024-2026), and Cancer Council Victoria’s CEO, Todd Harper. Congratulations to all! And we welcome incoming President Ulrika Årehed Kågström. We are ready to support the UICC Board and President in continuing its incredible mission and impact with global cancer prevention and control. The McCabe Centre for Law and Cancer was founded by the UICC and Cancer Council, and we look forward to co-hosting the World Cancer Leaders’ Summit in Melbourne, in November 2025 next year. #cancer #cancercontrol https://lnkd.in/gTEMHQRm.

This Carers Week, we recognize the often unseen yet invaluable role that carers play in supporting those living with cancer. We thank each and every carer for their tireless dedication and care. As Tarishi Desai, Manager of Treatment & Supportive Care at the McCabe Centre, says: "We know that the vital contribution that carers make is often unseen – and we are seeking to make the unseen seen at the highest levels." At Cancer Council Victoria and the McCabe Centre for Law & Cancer, we are working hard to elevate the rights and recognition of unpaid carers. 🌏 Our recent work has helped influence an Australian Parliamentary report reviewing the Carer Recognition Act 2010, to improve recognition for unpaid carers, with a number of our recommendations taken up – find out more here: https://lnkd.in/gGZnmsvX The McCabe Centre for Law and Cancer also spoke at last month’s World Cancer Congress in Geneva, sharing insights and lessons from law reform, economic research, and policy implementation for carers rights around the world. To all carers – thank you 💙 #CarersWeek #CarerRecognition #CancerCouncilVic #Advocacy

🎦 You can now watch our webinar on "What's Law Got to Do With It: Using Law for Cancer Prevention and Control", held in collaboration with our friends at the VCCC Alliance, on the link below! Suzanne Zhou Tarishi Desai Hayley Jones

World Cancer Congress may be over, but in partnership with WHO Europe, the Secretariat of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), and the Norwegian Cancer Society, the McCabe Centre co-hosted a two-day workshop on Law and Tobacco Control, held at the UICC offices directly after Congress. The workshop brought together 40 dedicated attendees that work specifically in tobacco control, to share insights, strategies, and legal approaches from global and European perspectives. The workshop covered: forward-looking tobacco control measures, the development of a legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, regulatory approaches to stop industry interference, legal challenges to tobacco control measures, and regulating digital marketing of tobacco and nicotine products. We’re so grateful to our partners and participants for their commitment to advancing tobacco control and contributing to the reduction of the global cancer burden. Norwegian Cancer Society, World Health Organization Euro, Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance (SEATCA), European Ombudsman, ASH, CLAP CTFK, Union for International Cancer Control (UICC), Benn McGrady, Kate Lannan, Dr Ranti Fayokun, Kritika Khanijo, Gianella Severini, Elisabet Ruiz, Lilia Olefir, Emily O'Keilly, Rüdiger Krech, Hayley Jones, Suzanne Zhou, Rachel Kitonyo Devotsu, Ma-Anne Rosales-Sto. Domingo, Daniel Dorado. #TobaccoControl #GlobalHealth #LawAndCancer #WHO #FCTC #CancerPrevention #McCabeCentre #WCC2024

The World Cancer Congress in Geneva put a spotlight on global efforts in cancer prevention and control - and we experienced a week of collective breakthrough, knowledge exchange and collaboration. Our key moments: - Advancing the rights of cancer carers. Hayley Jones (Chair) and Tarishi Desai presented on legal, economic and personal impacts. Panel included Union for International Cancer Control (UICC), Gavin Allman, Carmen Auste, Cancer Warriors Foundation Inc., Jane Kabaki, Kilele Health. - Building a better environment for sustainable and impactful tobacco control by McCabe Centre's Rachel Kitonyo Devotsu, Leslie Rae Ferat, Global Alliance for Tobacco Control, Olivia Stevens, Kivu International, Nisha Arunatilake, Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka, Edgardo Ulysees Dorotheo, Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance (SEATCA). - Early diagnosis and optimising treatment for all - by Todd Harper, Cancer Council Victoria, Zhu Juan, Zhejiang Cancer Hospital, Wei Zhang, Xuanwu Hospital Feixiang Yang Anhui Medical University Isabel Mosquera IARC - International Agency for Research on Cancer / World Health Organization Feixiang Yang Anhui Medical University - Innovations in early detection and prevention of liver cancer – chaired by Charissa Feng of Cancer Council Victoria and Forward-looking tobacco control policies in an age of political uncertainty featuring Megan Varlow of Cancer Council Australia. - What's law got to do with it? Why cancer prevention and control is a human rights law issue presented by Tarishi Desai and chaired by Rachel Devotsu, Alejandra De Cima, Asociacion Mexicana de Lucha Contra el Cáncer, A.C., Fatia Kiyange, Center for Health, Human Rights and Development, Kenji Lopez-Cuevas, Fundación Cáncer Warriors de México. - Making law work for cancer prevention, by Ma-Anne Rosales-Sto. Domingo, on a panel organised by IARC WHO, alongside Craig Sinclair of Cancer Council Victoria presenting on reducing Australian obesity. Other panelists included Elisabete Weiderpass & Isabelle Soerjomataram (IARC WHO), and Philip Castle National Cancer Institute (NCI). - Future directions in tobacco law & policy, exploring new & old challenges in tobacco control - session chaired by McCabe Centre's Suzanne Zhou with Mark Parascandola, National Cancer Institute (NCI), Marianne Hammer, Norwegian Cancer Society, Murallitharan Munisamy, National Cancer Society Malaysia, Lekan Ayo-Yusuf, University of Pretoria Ramzi Salloum, University of Florida. - We are what we breathe: building partnerships for clean air, presented by Suzanne Zhou, Nina Wrenshaw, Clean Air Fund, Isabelle Soerjomataram, International Agency for Research on Cancer, Pierpaolo Mudu, WHO Regional Office for Europe Phoebe Ongadi, Kenya Network of Cancer Organisations. We are looking forward to continuing these collaborations and discussions in Melbourne for the World Cancer Leaders’ Summit in 2025! #WCC2024 #GlobalHealth #CancerControl #humanrights #tobaccocontrol

This week, our team is in Geneva, Switzerland, presenting at World Cancer Congress and attending a series of meetings and workshops with the WHO, the Norwegian Cancer Society, UICC and other key collaborators. If you're attending, we'd love to connect. See more here: https://lnkd.in/eRzKb2wb Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) #WorldCancerCongress #cancerprevention #cancer