|
|
HHD and the American Cancer Society Train Cancer Control Leaders Worldwide
HHD Global Programs is working with the American Cancer Society in the
worldwide fight against cancer by developing modules for a signature
international curriculum that has already reached 245 scholars from 62
countries.
The American Cancer Society estimates that in 2000, there were 10 million
new cancer diagnoses and six million cancer deaths globally. Seventy
percent of these deaths occurred in developing countries. While the U.S.
and other developed countries have had cancer control programs and systems
in place for decades, developing countries have only recently faced dramatically
escalating cancer rates as their residents live longer and have increasingly
Westernized diets and rising rates of tobacco use. Because cancer
is a relatively new problem in the developing world, many of these countries
do not have qualified personnel or adequate resources to respond to cancer
locally.
FAST FACTS
- In 2000, an estimated 10 million new cancer diagnoses
and 6 million cancer deaths occurred worldwide.
- By 2020, the number of new cancer cases will grow
to 15 million, and the number of deaths could double
to as many as 12 million.
- An estimated 70 percent of these deaths will occur
in developing countries, which are least prepared
to address their growing cancer burdens.
Source: The American Cancer Society |
To address this gap, HHD Global has designed the training modules for
American Cancer Society University (ACSU), the Society’s signature
international program. Drawing on over 90 years of cancer control experience,
the American Cancer Society created ACSU to strengthen the capacity of
emerging cancer societies in developing countries by training cancer
control leaders in key aspects of running community-based cancer control
organizations and programs. Countries from around the globe, from Nigeria
to Mexico to Malaysia, have sent scholars to be trained at ACSU.
“The ACSU training sessions provide a special opportunity for
cancer control leaders from developing countries to increase their knowledge
and skills and to network with cancer control leaders from their own
country and other countries to share experiences and ideas,” says
Wendy Santis, Senior Research Development Associate in HHD Global Programs.
The ACSU training modules include topics that are essential for designing
and running cancer control initiatives, including program planning, governance,
advocacy, media relations, volunteer recruitment and management, prevention
and detection, patient services, and fundraising.
However, the ACSU trainings do much more than simply impart knowledge
and information. The trainings also include practical sessions
for participants to practice skills they have learned, begin action
planning, and network with other cancer control leaders. After participating
in the program, the ACSU scholars return to their home countries with
the knowledge, skills, and supports they need to create organizations
and programs to reduce the burden of cancer in their own communities.
Scholars also receive seed grants from ACSU to launch new programs,
projects, or interventions in their home country based on what they learned
during the training. Seed money has been used for vital programming such
as: establishing a tobacco and cancer study unit in Ethiopia; starting
a prostate cancer awareness program in Jamaica; holding a workshop on
building and effectively running a cancer organization in Vietnam; and
recruiting and training volunteers to serve as educators in Bolivia.
“ACSU is a unique training that enables scholars to understand various
facets of cancer control through a comprehensive curriculum,” stated
Monika Arora, an ACSU scholar in India. “The best part of the curriculum
is country-specific adaptation of information, facts, statistics, and examples.
ACSU trains scholars to become effective advocates to augment the agenda of
national cancer control programmes in a concerted matter and to plan activities
in a strategic way.”
To reach as many cancer control leaders as possible, trainings are held
in the U.S. for participants coming from various countries, and also
held in other countries for participants from those specific areas, including
China, India, Japan, and Latin America. In the latter cases, the
curriculum is adapted to each country or region’s individual cancer-related
problems and needs, which allows participants to build cancer control
capacities specific to their area.
For more information about HHD Global’s work with ACSU, please
contact Laurie Rosenblum, Curriculum Writer, at lrosenblum@edc.org.
July 27, 2006
|
