This year World Health Day, 7 April, marks the 75th Anniversary of the World Health Organization (WHO). Founded in 1948 as a United Nations Agency, the WHO is recognized as the global authority dedicated to promoting health and keeping the world safe from health threats.
ESMO has been supporting and promoting WHO’s global initiatives for more than 20 years. “We are proud of our fruitful collaboration with the WHO, of the opportunity to provide technical expertise and resources in cancer management, demonstrating our tangible commitment to help the WHO deliver for impact,” said the ESMO President Andrés Cervantes.
This year also marks a full decade of ESMO being in Official Relations with the WHO which allows ESMO to participate in WHO meetings, make official statements delivered to all 194 Member States, and , and collaborate with WHO on cancer projects aimed to support countries as they work towards achieving the goals of the 2017 World Health Assembly Cancer Resolution and Universal Health Coverage.
“As ESMO has become a global community of professionals that strive to promote equal access to optimal cancer care for all patients, collaborating with the World Health Organization, which tackles global health issues, represents an unquestionable added value for our members, helping them to improve oncology care wherever they are in the world,” said the ESMO President.
Currently, ESMO Member Raffaella Casolino, supported by the Society, is working as a staff member in the WHO Cancer Control team. Her role will focus on delivering WHO cancer projects which aim to support national governments in their decision-making process on including essential cancer services in their country’s health benefit packages. Her predecessors in the position were ESMO members, Felipe Roitberg and Dario Trapani.