To delay the development of a treatment that cures a lethal disease that kills 100.000 people per year is to be responsible for the deaths of those 100.000 people, even if you never seen them.

Julian Savulescu

In the Western countries, it seems that cancer is much better treated than somewhere else. At the same time, the Western countries suffer from inhibitory prosperity. Cancer research and care is regulated intensively overlooking innovative pathways for research and care. Unfortunately, as a result the urgency and potential to develop and grow further is lost.

At the same time, in some countries in Africa, Latin America and Asia, access to excellent care is much less taken for granted. Paradoxically precisely in the global South, unexpected ways of research and care have been developed that might of great value for the West. There is a need to learn from each other as a global community.

Inspire2Live’s network is strong in Europe and many initiatives are inspired through our participation. Still all of our efforts are not sufficient. If we execute what we already know, we can improve the outcome. Instead, using the words of Sir David Lane: ‘We do not execute what we know and when you do not execute what you already know, it’s a bloody scandal’.

So, the important question here is: what is holding us back?

We need the participation of all the stakeholders in the medical industrial complex in order to be successful. That’s why we are building ‘Inspire2Live Hubs’.

Working groups of scholar activists and patient advocates that connect all these stakeholders. We already have one hub in Europe and we will start with hubs in Africa (to be arranged), Asia (Singapore), South and Middle America (Costa Rica), USA East Coast (Boston) and USA West Coast (San Francisco).

Our congresses show how equal participation from stakeholders yield greater results for patients and society. This leads towards an inspiring program with examples from other domains in order to achieve renewal in health care. The conference is a mixture of keynotes and working sessions on the roadmap. Participants come from various countries and continents. We learn from each other by the motto: ‘I may not help you but we might’.

Our Annual Congress 2021 is about incubating and replicating for the global patient. We will built coalitions of the willing and of the ones who pull the strings in order to realize ‘The Global Cancer Patient Bill of Rights’.

We are happy to announce that our next Annual Congress will be held in February at The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences in Amsterdam. Please save the following dates in your agenda: February 3, 4 and 5, 2021. More details will be provided in our following updates.

Please let us know if these days fit into your calendar by sending an e-mail to Nicole van Leeuwen at nicole.van.leeuwen@inspire2live.org 

For further information on the content, please contact Ilona Schelle via mail at ilona.schelle@inspire2live.org or by telephone: +31 6 524 96604