Cancer Society Receives Major Boost to Fight Cancer Globally

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The American Cancer Society (ACS) has announced a significant commitment from the MSD Foundation, a private charitable organization funded by Merck & Co., to advance global cancer patient navigation. 

The six-year, $3.5 million commitment will launch SPARK (Supporting Patient Navigation, Adoption, Replication and Knowledge-exchange), an initiative aimed at strengthening and enhancing patient navigation to improve cancer care in Indonesia, Kenya, and Nigeria.

SPARK will build on ACS’s efforts to develop cancer patient navigation in low-and-middle-income countries through the ACS BEACON (Building Expertise, Advocacy and Capacity for Oncology Navigation) initiative. This initiative pioneers patient navigation at the country level.

For further information, read more details here

The primary objective of SPARK is to build the capacity of multiple health facilities and cancer organizations in national cancer care delivery systems. This will enhance access to care for more patients across each country, promote connections and collaborative efforts, and guide governmental policy efforts.

Arif Kamal, ACS chief patient officer, emphasized the significance of this initiative, stating, “The global burden of cancer is expected to almost double in the next three decades, with the largest burden of increased cancer incidence and mortality in countries with lower resources.

Kamal added, “With a scale-up of cancer services in these settings, we have an opportunity to positively change these outcomes. Patient navigation is a proven, effective method to increase equitable access to cancer care in the United States, and we at the American Cancer Society have a rich history of translating domestic lessons learned to other countries.”

Kamal concluded, “We are excited to expand this collaborative work so more patients across the globe can access high-quality care through navigation.”

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