On April 18th and 19th, the First High Level Meeting “Financing Sustainable Solutions for Cancer Control in Latin America C / Can 2025” was held in Montevideo. The event organized by the Presidency of the Republic of Uruguay and the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) was attended by authorities, experts in health finance and economic institutions. Although it was not revealed when the next meeting will be held, the World Cancer Congress in Malaysia is confirmed in October 2018.
The main objective of the C/Can meeting was to move forward with the proposal of the Health Financing Unit in Cities. However, its treatment did not go beyond the technical debate between specialists of the UICC, specialists of multilateral credit organisms and former ministers of economy of the region.
During their presentations, representatives of the Uruguayan government argued that the fight against cancer requires not only financing, but also political will.
In this regard, the president of Uruguay, Tabaré Vázquez, said that “the fight against cancer does not only depend on science. Two additional factors affect it: poverty and inequality.” He considered that “in the fight against cancer there is a classification of countries: the oncologically developed and the oncologically underdeveloped. Paradoxically, in the underdeveloped, by late diagnosis and low access to treatment, the cost of fighting cancer is more expensive. To change this situation, a multi-sectoral initiative is key, which convene all public and private levels. It is my desire to summon all civilian actors to redouble their will in the fight against cancer within the framework of this initiative “.
Meanwhile, Laura Solia-Shellaby, Specialist in Financing for Cities C / Can 2025 of the UICC, highlighted the need to introduce new means to finance health, but noted that it is equally relevant to improve the efficiency in the spending of resources currently available. She specified that the Ministries of Health and Economy should strive to better understand the limitations that each portfolio has, in order to improve the coordination of State’s efforts.