State-run cancer centers (NCC) of Korea, Japan, and China held an online meeting to share long-term plans for fighting against cancers and promised to strengthen their teamwork to contribute to global cancer control.
At the virtual meeting on Wednesday, the presidents of the three nations’ cancer centers shared the problems they face and current issues related to national cancer management and discussed how to better cooperate for overcoming cancers amid the Covid-19 era.
The three countries have taken turns and hosted the Korea-Japan-China cancer control workshop annually since 2018.
During the workshop, Korea’s National Cancer Center President Seo Hong-gwan introduced the nation’s fourth comprehensive plan for controlling cancers to China and Japan and demonstrated past projects and outcomes.
“We have established a long-term strategy combined with the comprehensive cancer control plan,” Seo said. “Korea’s National Cancer Center will lead advanced cancer researches by using big data and artificial intelligence (AI) and play a key role and be responsible for providing standards in cancer treatment.”
In response, National Cancer Center of China President Jie He explained about China’s national strategies promoted to solve the issues caused by cancer.
He briefed the details of how China would run its national cancer control program, saying, “We will upgrade the national systems for registering cancer patients and play our role as the national cancer center in establishing the three steps of cancer healthcare delivery system.”
Their Japanese counterpart also introduced how the national cancer center has managed cancers for the past 20 years and presented the strategies for fighting against the disease and research plans for the next five years.
“It is important to build up infrastructure for data research in innovative studies, provide patient-centered cancer treatments based on results of novel researches, and collaborate and communicate in controlling cancers,” Japans’ National Cancer Center President Hitoshi Nakagama said.
Korea and China have each hosted the event once since 2018, but the three countries had to postpone the workshop due to the Covid-19 pandemic last year. They are discussing ways to have the third meeting in Japan online.