ICPC. ABOUT US
ICPC is a coalition of the willing, of all those who share the ambition to improve access to cancer care for patients everywhere, and who understand that cooperation makes the goal more attainable.
The International Cancer Patients Coalition is a coalition of stakeholders across the world dedicated to promoting the best and most innovative access to care for cancer patients everywhere, and in a timely manner.
ICPC is a genuinely multi-stakeholder non-profit organisation with no prejudices – and no patience with discussion or politics without actions.
ICPC is a coalition of the willing, of all those who share the ambition to improve access to cancer care for patients everywhere, and who understand that cooperation makes the goal more attainable.
ICPC is a one-stop shop to engage with stakeholders across different regions through different high level engagement mechanisms, from academic publications to hackathons, with the overall aim of increasing innovation literacy among all stakeholders and at institutional level, for effective policy shaping to influence the global approach to cancer care.
ICPC facilitates cross-fertilisation between all stakeholders to highlight where barriers exist and suggest where solutions lie, to alert policy makers to the needs and to press for action. It is determined to see institutional frameworks ensure adequate services and rational allocation of resources to support healthcare systems delivering innovation for the benefit of patients and societies. By purposely involving all stakeholders, from patients to researchers, politicians and payers, hospitals and data scientists, public and private sectors, ICPC is the embodiment of realistic recognition that no great results are possible without collective effort, and no single group of stakeholders is capable of meeting the magnitude of the challenge cancer poses.
ICPC brings together the great, the good, the influential and those whose voices are insufficiently heard. Through its regional alliance structure and partnerships, ICPC makes possible the truly inclusive and democratic approach that can genuinely engage with all stakeholders for learning, alignment and acting at international level to promote equity for all patients.
It provides a voice to those so often unheard – from refugees to rare cancer patients, and from people from poorer countries to those trapped in conflict zones, tackling unacceptable inequalities.
In the video below, filmed during ICPC’s event in Geneva, Switzerland, Zainab Shinkafi Bagudu, a pioneer in Nigerian health, provides valuable insights on the specific challenges that lower-middle-income countries face, in the fight against cancer.
ICPC is much more than simply advocacy. ICPC provides a catalogue of actions, followed by impact assessments ans resources capable of enriching subsequent actions and allowing the sharing of experiences and learnings from different regions.
ICPC is resolutely goal-oriented – and that goal is access to better patient care.
Many of the current cancer organisations are providing great services in their chosen field. But each is catering to its specific subject area and geography.
ICPC is addressing the quest to have across the world coalitions of professionals,
patients and decision-makers dedicated to patient diagnosis and care, and insistent on boosting understanding of disease and addressing delays in access to optimal care.
ICPC is unique as
● It brings together six regions under one umbrella to speak with one voice at world level to the UN, WHO, World Bank, OECD and other international bodies, while remaining agile and responsive to local issues through its regional components. The network of regional coalitions are the European
Cancer Patient Coalition, Latin American Cancer Patient Coalition, Middle Eastern Cancer Patient Coalition, African Cancer Patient Coalition, Asian Cancer Patient Coalition and North American Cancer Patient Coalition.
● It is a multi-stakeholder coalition of all the key drivers of healthcare systems.
● It is open to work with all to bring innovation into healthcare systems and its focus is firmly on effectiveness, and on the outcomes of its engagement and its interventions.
● It is more than a patient organization. Serving the patient is the goal and most important driver. But ICPC is acutely aware that bringing innovation into patient care depends on many other drivers too.
So to make a real impact on healthcare systems, ICPC comprises, alongside patients, political, scientific and technology partners, ensuring close contact with the worlds of policy and input from the latest developments in diagnostics, treatments and technologies.
In the video below, Denis Horgan, ICPC’s Secretary General, gives valuable insights on the fundamentals and values that are at the base of the organization and gives further information about its structure.
A COLLECTIVE ACTION:
Wide participation is central to improving cancer care for every patient
A clear focus on patients is essential to promoting access to the best care around the world – always sensitive to location and to the political and cultural environment, and responsive to local stakeholders, but determined to find ways of working together and sharing experiences to ensure the fruits of innovation reach those who can benefit from them.
This collective effort to democratize cancer care is a concrete reflection of
democracy itself, giving the opportunity to everyone not only to have their interests represented, but to allow their voices to be heard, which is why politics and policy engagement is at the core of ICPC.
Listen to Dr. Paul Hofman’s interview, in the video below, to get an in-depth insight on the reason why it is an absolute necessity to build robust networks in cancer care.
ICPC collective strengths are in the methodology leadership and change
management skills that will allow change to occur that puts solutions into effect.
ICPC functions as a meeting of minds on what needs to be done, and as a fulcrum for action so as to achieve the greatest impact on the ground.
The ambitions of ICPC are high – but its activities are firmly grounded in reality. ICPC bases its actions on sound information, and arrives at its decisions through a strong evidence base.
ICPC advocates with sensitivity but determination. This is the strength of the ICPC approach: its advocacy will be effective because it will be focused on clearly defined problems and evidence-based solutions, for delivery through its comprehensive network. ICPC acts with a sense of urgency and purpose, since the ultimate objective is for patients to live their best lives, and to do so now, not in some well-intentioned but indefinite and hazy future. Rich in expertise brought by its staff and partners, ICPC will establish its positions on existing evidence or commissioned research and will direct its advocacy to ensure that evidence is presented to the right person in the right institution and at the right time, so that the case is made compellingly for change.
It will plug critical gaps in information within healthcare systems and the policy contexts that govern them, highlighting areas where existing medical/diagnostic and therapeutic practices are absent or under-utilised, and working with experts globally to identify shared means to tackle gaps.
To democratise access to innovation ICPC will leverage its extensive network built on willingness to work together in pursuit of common purpose and agreed solutions. The targets of ICPC’s advocacy include WHO, relevant UN agencies and international financial institutions. In addition, advocacy at regional level – the US Congress, the European Union, the Pan-American Health Organisation or the African Union – will be vectored through regional alliances, such as the African Cancer Patient Coalition.
The cumulative expertise of ICPC will enable it to identify precisely what information is needed by which target audience and at what point in their decision-making processes, to facilitate the timely adoption of needed change and the acceptance and introduction of needed innovation.
ICPC’s engagement with decision-makers and expertise will influence political, policy, organisational and individual behaviours that hinder the uptake of innovation into healthcare systems.
