EurActiv: Clean the air, prevent cancer
Christian Friis Bach, executive secretary and under-secretary-general at the U.N. Economic Commission for Europe

“…We can do more to prevent people from getting sick. One way is to increase our efforts to reduce the amount of pollutants in the air we breathe. Air pollution is already known to increase risks for a wide range of diseases, including respiratory and heart diseases. … But we must do more and we must take global action. This is why air quality has been selected as one of the two main themes at the next Environment for Europe ministerial conference in Georgia in 2016. This is why air quality is a key priority in the expected Sustainable Development Goals…” (2/4).

Huffington Post: Noncommunicable Disease – An Emerging Global Health Crisis
Nancy G. Brinker, founder and chair of global strategy, Susan G. Komen, and former U.S. Ambassador to Hungary

“…There is much the United States and its allies can do to help developing countries meet the NCD challenge at relatively modest cost. By placing the cancer crisis far higher on the global health agenda, we have it in our power to spare millions from needless suffering and death” (2/4).

Devex: Emerging world cities: Innovating on cancer’s front lines
Jonathan S. Jay, attorney, bioethicist, and senior writer for Management Sciences for Health, and Chelsey R. Canavan, research and communications specialist with Management Sciences for Health

“Cancer is gaining ground in the developing world. People in poor countries are more likely to die from cancer, and die far younger, than people in rich countries. … Cancer isn’t just an urban issue. Most of the world’s poor still live in rural communities. National governments and development groups should expand their programs to bring the cancer response to these areas, too. Universal health coverage policies could help finance and reorganize services to address NCDs. Emerging world cities, however, have no need to wait — they can go fast and far on their own. Their leadership can begin to close the cancer divide” (2/4).

Financial Times: Guest post: the global problem of spiraling costs for cancer medicines
Mohga Kamal-Yanni, senior health and HIV policy adviser for Oxfam

“Gone are the days when cancer was seen as a problem only faced by rich countries. With the trend of rising cancer rates set to continue because of changing lifestyles and increasingly aging populations in developing nations, cancer is becoming a huge challenge for emerging economies and the situation is being exacerbated by a lack of affordable medicines. … Clearly now is the time for global mechanisms to delink the financing of R&D from the prices of resulting medicines. Otherwise, new effective medicines will be affordable only for the lucky few” (2/4).