Cancer Advocacy for African Countries

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): As seen in industrialized nations, cancer is now a major public health problem in developing countries, especially Africa. Unfortunately, cancer advocacy is limited in Africa thereby making cancer issues of low priority in African countries. Our long-term goal is to make cancer a top priority in Africa. In pursuit of our goal, the objective of this conference grant application is to train cancer advocates who will be empowered to engage their communities, develop, and implement cancer health and survivorship programs. Utilizing an innovative framework for the training activities, we will provide the skills to: [1] mobilize the resources within African countries for health promotion, prevention, and survivorship strategies;[2] partner with key stakeholders to accomplish targeted objectives;[3] raise funds to support advocacy activities;and [4] develop and successfully organize community-centered programs. A cornerstone of our conference -- and we believe the most innovative aspect-- is that the final conference agenda will be based on the needs identified by community leaders, cancer survivors, and cancer advocates in Africa from an ongoing SWOT Analysis project. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: A Biennial conference, "The International Conference on Cancer Advocacy for African Countries (CAAC)" is proposed to train cancer advocates who will be empowered to engage their communities, develop, and implement cancer health and survivorship programs in Africa.