Middle East Cancer Consortium: Low Profile, High

UNCLAS AMMAN 009166

SIPDIS

HHS FOR NIH - FOGARTY CENTER

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: TBIO XF
SUBJECT: Middle East Cancer Consortium: Low Profile, High
Impact


1. (U) Summary: The U.S. National Institutes of Health-
supported Middle East Cancer Consortium (MECC) just
celebrated its tenth birthday and is going strong. It's
hard to think of another forum with Palestinians and
Israelis, Indians and Pakistanis, and Turks, Turkish
Cypriots and Greek Cypriots all deeply engaged together in
professional discussion. Two major MECC activities are
scheduled for Turkey in 2006. End summary.

Clinton Initiative Started With 5 Members, Added Turkey
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2. (U) MECC started as a personal initiative of former
President Clinton to his cancer-stricken mother, according
to MECC Executive Director Dr. Michael Silbermann. With
financial support and leadership from the U.S. National
Institutes of Health (NIH),the U.S. and Israel, Jordan,
Cyprus, Egypt and the Palestinian Authority created the
Middle East Cancer Society. The Middle East Cancer Society
became the Middle East Cancer Consortium (MECC) in 1996.
Turkey joined MECC as a full member in 2004, and is a strong
supporter. Turkey will pay for two full-scale MECC training
programs in 2006 to be held in Turkey. One will be on
cancer registries, the other on pediatric oncology.

More Members Waiting in the Wings
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3. (U) Dr. Silbermann, in his opening remarks to MECC's
November 15-17 meeting in Cyprus on palliative care said
that he has gotten inquiries from Tunisia and from Qatar
about joining MECC. With NIH financial support for MECC
limited, Silbermann and the MECC Board of Governors are
trying to bring in new members and new funding. Silbermann,
whose personal leadership has been instrumental in MECC's
success, also noted that MECC intentionally keeps a low
profile so that its work on the ground does not draw
politically-motivated naysayers.

Foci Are Cancer Registries, Training
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4. (U) MECC's goal is to reduce the incidence and impact of
cancer in the Middle East, particularly through training.
MECC's flagship program is cancer registries, which collect
and generate standardized, high quality data on cancer. A
manual of standards for cancer registries in the Middle East
will be published by MECC in 2006. MECC also pays for
Fellows to attend long-term training programs, normally in
the US. Forty Fellows have gotten MECC-supported training
during the past two years.


5. (U) MECC's first workshop on a topic other than cancer
registries was in February 2004 on palliative care (medical
care focused on relieving symptoms, not on curing the
illness). The strong response to that topic led directly to
the second palliative care workshop in Cyprus November 15-
17, 2005. This meeting drew sixty-one participants from
member countries, and another eighteen from a diverse group
of non-member countries.


6. (U) Comment: MECC has a clear, important mission and a
committed cadre of leaders around the region. These two
factors add up to a MECC that is going strong as it enters
its second decade of operations in building health and
partnerships.

RUBINSTEIN