The world should listen – Global Power of Oncology Nursing (GPON) 2022

The world should listen – Global Power of Oncology Nursing (GPON) 2022

For people with cancer to stand the best chance of survival they need health services to be properly funded and operating at the top of their game. Pre-requirements for this are Peace, Financial Stability and Governments that accept responsibility for the healthcare of their populations.

Today, people with cancer worldwide are facing the effects of a global ‘polycrisis’. Recovering from the devastation of its health services caused by of the SARS-CoV-19 pandemic, in the last 12 months the world has witnessed political chaos and incompetence, unprovoked State aggression fuelling global economic crises and the unchecked effects of catastrophic climate change; all of which have led to the mass movement of refugee populations and the exodus of health care professionals from regions where they are most needed.

The upcoming London Global Cancer Week (13–18 November 2022, www.lgcw.org.uk) provides the annual multidisciplinary, multicultural global meeting point for individuals and institutions committed to improving the care of people with cancer in the low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).  The sessions presented by the Global Power of Oncology Nursing (GPON) collective form an integral part of London’s Global Cancer Week (supported by ICPCN). They stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the events hosted by the UN agencies (IAEA, IARC, WHO), the Commonwealth and the UICC. It is through GPON that the Week’s audience hears the uninterrupted voices of nurses from across the world describing the realities of front line care in 2022:

  • The grievous impact of armed conflict on the care of their patients
  • How the difficulties of identifying and treating displaced people affected by cancer in under-resourced refugee camps are overcome
  • Meeting the challenge posed by global weather events and by accelerated climate change and the ever increasing draining of nursing services by workforce erosion
  • Provision of cancer care through prevention, early detection and diagnosis, treatment and palliative care

London’s Global Cancer Week strives to be both a faithful mirror reflecting the reality of the continuing global inequity of cancer care and a catalyst for change. It will not succeed in either objective without the involvement of nurses.  The GPON nurses will be providing expert testimony on Tuesday 15 November. The world should listen.