3rd.International A Blooming Plant Oncology Days
December 18-23 2009 ANKARA TURKEY
3rd International ‘A Growing Plant’ Oncology Days
18-23 December 2009 ANKARA TURKEY
“Human Development” and “Corporate Social Responsibility”
As the Young Accumulation Association, we held the third “A Growing Plant” Oncology Days between 18-23 December 2009 in Ankara, which we organized in Muş two years in a row. As a youth association, one of our most important goals is to protect children and youth against cancer, who are the source of society. Cancer is a very dangerous health problem and early detection makes cancer treatment easier. For this reason, it is very important to inform families, children and young people about cancer correctly in terms of prevention and early diagnosis of the disease.
Department of Cancer Control of the Ministry of Health draws attention to the fact that Turkey spent 2.8 billion EURO for cancer treatment in 2008 and that this is half of the budget of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Turkey, and that if it goes at this rate, cancer will be the first cause of death in the world and in Turkey in the coming years. Cancer, a disease without borders, is a multifaceted health problem with psycho-social and economic aspects. For this reason, the active involvement of families, young people and non-governmental organizations in the fight against cancer will expand and strengthen the field of fight against cancer and contribute to the work on creating a social awareness.
The 3rd International “A Growing Plant” Oncology Days, which we held with these feelings and thoughts, created a ground for sharing national and international civil society experiences and good examples, and the cancer issue was discussed in the axis of health policies, together with the approach of human development and corporate social responsibility. This approach has differentiated Oncology Days from the national and international studies on cancer so far and created a new perspective. 34 people from 19 different countries, about 120 people from Ankara and different provinces, had the opportunity to attend the Oncology Days.
A brief summary of the 3rd International “A Growing Plant” Oncology Days…
International participants, who have been active in the fight against cancer for many years, found it very interesting that the cancer issue is handled with the approach of “Human Development” and “Corporate Social Responsibility”. The fact that they emphasize that they will use human development as an “innovative” approach in the projects and meetings they will organize is a clear indication that Turkey can transfer its experiences in the fight against cancer to the international arena by making a difference. Apart from this, the program we prepared in the form of workshops and conferences, the use of two different methods together increased the effectiveness of trainers, moderators and sessions and increased the efficiency of Oncology Days. The mastery of the trainers, moderators and session chairmen on the subject had a very important effect on increasing the efficiency and the successful implementation of the Oncology Days.
The entire program of the Oncology Days was presented in a very impressive way by journalist, announcer and producer of TV programs Özlem Gürses. Mrs. Gürses constructed the subject transitions between the sessions and the speakers with very professional transitions without creating any disconnection. The fact that the trainers, moderators, session chairmen and speakers are well-known not only in Turkey but also internationally, strengthened the program and outputs of Oncology Days.
Guests from 19 different countries emphasized that the work of both the government and non-governmental organizations in the fight against cancer in Turkey includes elements that have the quality of a guide in the international arena. The willingness of the state (Ministry of Health) to cooperate with non-governmental organizations and mutual initiatives in this regard were highly appreciated.
EXPERTS DRAW ATTENTION TO IMPORTANCE OF PROTECTION AND EARLY DIAGNOSIS IN THE FIGHT
AGAINST CANCER
Ankara Numune Training and Research Hospital Chief Physician Assoc. Dr. Nurullah Zengin talked about cancer treatment and structuring in Turkey and Associate Professor Salih Emir from Hacettepe University talked about the importance of early diagnosis in the fight against cancer. They said that cancer is seen in the category of treatable diseases in Turkey and that this situation reveals Turkey’s self-confidence in cancer treatment and underlined that regular health check-ups of people in the risk group will facilitate early diagnosis and treatment. Assist.Prof.Dr. Sevgi Sun Kapucu gave information about the diet and changes in cancer prevention. She stated that raising awareness among children and young people on nutrition and lifestyle on the protection of public health will greatly reduce possible cancer diagnoses.
Joining to the Oncology Days as session chair, United Nations Development Program Communications Manager and Human Development Report Coordinator and Lead Author Aygen Aytaç and United Nations Population Fund Reproductive Health Program Coordinator Dr. Gökhan Yıldırımkaya, along with the relationship between Human Development and Health, revealed their international perspective, especially on the protection of young people against cancer. Aytaç emphasized the health-development relationship in his presentation on human development. He recommended that the issue of health is one of the three most important priorities of human development and that the issue of cancer, which has a special place in health policies, will be handled together with the human development approach, and that strategic planning in this area should be structured according to human development indices.
PRAISE FOR TURKEY’S WORK ON FIGHTING CANCER
The European Coalition of Cancer Patients (ECPC) has 300 members from 41 countries. The coalition that works to defend the rights of cancer patients is one of the most important superstructures in the world. ECPC Vice President Simona Ene and ECPC Policy Department Coordinator Denis Horgan expressed their satisfaction with the richness of the program and content of the 3rd International “Growing Plant” Oncology Days, and the organization of it in a way that paves the way for new/innovative methods and perspectives. They have also been invited to attend and attend meetings of the ECPC and the European Society of Medical Oncology. In their speeches, they praised Turkey’s work on the fight against cancer, where they came for the first time. They stated that they were ready to support all initiatives to be made in this regard, as more non-governmental organizations from Turkey would participate in the cancer-fighting efforts in Europe, and this would provide an opportunity for Turkey to share experiences with other countries.
Participating in the program as a speaker; Engin Öztürk (Turkish State Hospitals and Patient Aid Foundation-HASVAK), Yusuf Pustu (Hope in Health Foundation-SUVAK), Dr. Nimet Baki (Trabzon Hope and War Association), Fatma Gündoğdu (Oncology Nurses Association), Prof. Dr. Şuayib Yalçın (Turkish Cancer Research and Control Association), Şerif Özhur (Cancer Patients Aid Association), Nermin Çeri (Pink Power Association), Sena Kaleli (Breast Health Association) shared examples of the work of civil society on the fight against cancer in Turkey.
Serdar Dinler, Chairman of the Corporate Social Responsibility Association of Turkey, mentioned with examples that addressing the fight against cancer with the “Corporate Social Responsibility” approach will expand and strengthen the field of fighting against cancer. He emphasized the necessity of including private sector organizations in the fight against cancer.
Prof. Dr. Elif Dağlı, talked about the responsibilities of the cigarette industry in combating cancer, Specialist Psycho-Oncologist Melek Uzunkavak, about the measures taken in Turkey to help patients overcome their fear of cancer, Dr. Aydın Dörtok talked about international civil society experiences on cancer and the responsibilities of the pharmaceutical industry in the fight against cancer all over the world. In addition to speakers from Turkey, Karine Hakobyan (Patient Rights Protection Center-Armenia), Hanno Egipt (Estonian Cancer Society), Alexandra Plumpe (Media and Science Association-Germany), who came from different countries to attend Oncology Days, talked about fighting cancer in a comparative way. They shared the experiences of their own countries and organizations.
International trainers Öyküm Sütlü, Görkem Bağcı, Gökçe Özaydın and Mert Renkmen, who served as trainers and moderators in the workshops section of the program, enabled our guests to adapt to the program in a short time and get to know each other in a short time, with the interactive methods they applied. In addition, in the trainings and workshops organized using interactive methods, Human Rights and Patient Rights, Cancer and Civil Society, State and Civil Society Cooperation in the Fight Against Cancer, Challenges and Needs in the Field were discussed. It has been mentioned that international cooperation and international networking will facilitate learning and dissemination of new/innovative methods in the fight against cancer.
Oncology Days created a new beginning and in order to increase the impact of this beginning in the international arena, representatives of all participating organizations agreed to support the Young Savings Association. In order to facilitate the participation of the managers of the association in international meetings and studies on cancer, in order for the communication network to be created by the Youth Savings Association to have wider participation, a decision was taken on the role of the institutions.
Onkoloji Günlerinin Geleceği Üzerine
Superstructure organizations and non-governmental organizations participating in the Oncology Days from abroad made three concrete suggestions regarding the organization and content of the Oncology Days in the coming years.
- Organizing the programs to be organized in the coming years under a theme (For example; patient rights, the role of civil society in the fight against cancer, lifestyle, etc.)
- The organization is carried out by a secretariat, which will be formed with the participation of international organizations (at least 7 organizations) under the chairmanship of the Young Accumulation Association, and the secretariat also determines the agenda of the Oncology Days.
- Establishing an international communication network dedicated to Oncology Days. Disseminating the results of Oncology Days through this network, promoting them for the coming years and identifying trends for the coming years.
All these concrete suggestions were adopted by the Young Accumulation Association and initiatives were taken to put them into practice as soon as possible.
We tried to avoid individual participation in oncology days, and many individual applications were therefore not taken into account. The participation from the superstructures and non-governmental organizations in the field of cancer from abroad has increased the multiplier effect of the studies on promotion. Despite the fact that many of our INVITED guests from abroad come for the first time, their high level of knowledge about Turkey has been quite remarkable. Thus, no special study has been carried out on the elimination of untrue false information. “Active and direct promotion” methods are based on the promotion planning we have made as an association.