A new initiative, C/Can 2025: City Cancer Challenge (C/Can 2025), was launched on January 17, 2017, at the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting in Davos, signalling a paradigm shift in the way international organisations will help country and city leaders address the growing burden of cancer they are facing. ASCO has signed on to be a founding partner in the initiative, which aims to increase the number of people with access to quality cancer treatment and care services in cities around the world with a population greater than 1 million.

This first-of-its-kind multisector initiative has been pioneered by the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC), in partnership with the World Economic Forum, the World Bank, and others including city leaders, governments, nongovernmental organizations, United Nations (UN) agencies, and domestic and international businesses.

With one in three people directly affected by cancer, the disease is one of the world’s most pressing health concerns, killing over 8 million people per year, more than HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis combined.

Cancer is estimated to cost world economies as much as US$1.16 trillion annually—a figure that is projected to grow exponentially if action is not taken now to reduce the spiralling growth in the number of cases and the impact on both individuals and health care budgets.

The greatest financial and human impact of cancer is felt within low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), those least equipped to respond to this growing burden, but also where rapid urbanisation is bringing significant public health and sustainable development challenges.

The global community has committed to reduce premature deaths from non-communicable diseases (NCDs), including cancer, by 25% by 2025 and by 33% by 2030, but to date, much of the effort to reduce mortality has focused on addressing shared risk factors for cancer and other NCDs.

This alone is however insufficient in being able to meet these global targets. With 54% of the world’s population already living in cities, and that number expected to rise above 66% in the coming decades, C/Can 2025 has been conceived to address the urgent need to move political commitments made at the global level into fully functional, comprehensive cancer solutions, which can reach the majority of the world’s population, therefore having a direct and concrete impact on cancer mortality rates and the target to reduce premature deaths by 2025.

In the first phase of the challenge, C/Can 2025 will target select cities from LMICs where the need is greatest. These key learning cities will provide insight on how the international community, local civil society, and the public sector can best work together to implement the shared ambitions of C/Can 2025. The first three cities that have committed to the challenge are Asunción, Paraguay, Cali, Colombia, and Yangon, Myanmar.

“This is a milestone for the health and development communities in that it is the first time such an international coalition of multisectoral organisations has been established to work with cities on improving cancer treatment and care,” said Cary Adams, CEO of UICC. “This is a call to action for all sectors to support city governments with populations above 1 million to respond to the rising epidemic of cancer and show the world that, together, we can tackle this disease and save lives.”

Arnaud Bernaert, Head of Global Heath and Healthcare at the World Economic Forum, said, “Partnering in initiatives like C/Can 2025 represent a powerful new force for global change. The World Economic Forum is supporting the innovative City Cancer Challenge because it convenes a unique set of stakeholders who are going to turn the tide on cancer in cities around the world.”

C/Can 2025 anticipates upwards of 80 cities being committed to the Challenge by the end of 2019, and that by 2025, when the UN measures progress against global NCD targets, that the cancer community will be able to show how cities around the world are curing more patients with cancer than ever before.

Founding partners of C/Can 2025 include: The World Economic Forum, World Bank, ASCO, Icon Group, National Cancer Institute, US (NCI) and University of Pittsburgh Medical Centre (UPMC) and a coalition of 22 pharmaceutical companies.