Tuesday 9th September
GLCC – speaking up for people with #lungcancer.
Members of the Coalition from across the globe gathered in Barcelona for our annual meeting.
Lively discussions and presentations ensured that members considered the three-day meeting highly successful.
First Session
Prof Matthew Peters and Secretary Dr Jesme Fox chaired the first session on the morning of Wednesday 3rd September.
They welcomed our newest members, along with the many ‘familiar faces’. Jesme presented on the functions, structures and finances of the GLCC. Subsequently, she outlined our partnerships with the Lung Cancer Policy Network and Global Cancer Coalitions Network.
Linda Dornan, manager of the Secretariat, described how she prepares the bi-annual ‘Unity’ newsletter. She also discussed the purpose of our Journalism and Special Recognition Awards.
Communications Lead Simon Malia presented on GLCC social media activity and website. Given its increasing limitations, members agreed this needs to be rebuilt.
Jackie Tebbs, who leads on resource materials, provided information which Jesme presented regarding our Factsheets and the work done this year, and consequently our plans for the next twelve months.
e-Atlas Update
Louise Abbott of the Incisive Health communications agency, which supports many of our projects, spoke next.
In keeping with our mission – speaking for people with #lungcancer – Louise duly presented on data from the 2024 Patient Experience Survey. She followed up with details of work done this year to update core data underpinning the GLCC e-Atlas.
Jesme brought members up to date with our support for the use of screening programmes to improve early detection of lung cancer. She acknowledged the wide variations in availability of such programmes across the world.
Maureen Rigney, of Go2 For Lung Cancer (USA), then presented on how people cope with living with lung cancer. She followed with details of the White Ribbon Project awareness campaign in the USA.
Simon Malia presented on the development of our Biomarker-driven Lung Cancers Resource and its attendant challenges due to our aging website.
The morning session ended with Jesme recapping the work outlined and therefore our next steps for the coming year.
Second Session
After lunch, Patricia Mondragon of Respirando Con Valor (Mexico) chaired a series of meetings with individual supporting partner organisations. Members heard presentations by Amgen, Johnson&Johnson, Boehringer Ingelheim and Merck.
Our Networking Dinner, with much lively discussion and debate, duly rounded off our first day.
Day Two – Thursday Thursday 4 September
The third session of our meeting was chaired by Bernard Gaspar of Asociación Espanola De Afectados De cancer De Pulmón.
This session began with a presentation by Dr Takayuki Takahama of the West Japan Oncology Group, on Shaping Healthcare Policy in Japan: the influence of patient voices and medical expertise on high-cost care coverage.
This clearly showed the dramatic impact that ‘ordinary’ people can have on the financial aspects of government health policies when they organise and act decisively in unison – a drastic policy review was promptly cancelled by the Japanese Prime Minister.
Following this, members met
