Uzbekistan’s First Lady Leads UN Forum on Child Cancer Survival
As part of the High-Level Week of the 80th UN General Assembly, a forum titled Global Movement to Improve Survival and Reduce Suffering of Children with Cancer and Other Life-Threatening Diseases took place at the organisation’s headquarters. The meeting was chaired by Uzbekistan’s First Lady Ziroat Mirziyoyeva.
The event was organised jointly by Uzbekistan’s Ministry of Health, the World Health Organization (WHO), St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and the Zamin Foundation. In her opening remarks, Mirziyoyeva stressed the need for collective action:
«Today, more than two billion children worldwide are at risk or already living with non-communicable diseases. That is almost one third of the global population. Millions are fighting cancer. Despite advances in modern medicine, survival rates vary: over 80% in developed countries but under 30% in developing ones. This gap is unacceptably wide. We must act to prevent tragedies.»
Stories of Hope and Action
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus highlighted the results of cooperation between WHO and St. Jude, which has provided life-saving treatment to over 400,000 children in 80 low- and middle-income countries. He shared examples of young patients whose recoveries inspired hope, including Gabo from El Salvador, who survived cancer, and Samira, a 17-year-old from Uzbekistan, whose story moved participants.
«We will work together so that every child receives the care they need, wherever they are born and whoever they are. Every child deserves a chance at life,» said Dr Ghebreyesus.
He reaffirmed WHO’s commitment to its Global Initiative for Childhood Cancer, which aims to raise global survival rates to 60% by 2030.
Kursiv also reports that Powis forecasts that cancer survival rates will quadruple over the next 50 years, thanks to rapid advancements in oncology.
