Fez - Morocco called Monday for setting up a solidarity fund to fight cancer in the eastern Mediterranean region.
The call was made by Princess Lalla Salma who chaired the opening ceremony of the 56th session of the regional committee for Eastern Mediterranean of the World Health Organisation (WHO), held on October 5-8 in the central city of Fez.
Princess Lalla Salma said the fund, which is to elaborate and finance country prevention and early screening programmes, will boost the countries' capacity in planning, implementing and assessing programmes relating to the fight against cancer.
Deploring that this disease does not have the place it deserves in health policies in the region, the princess urged the international community to place this fight among its top priorities.
On the regional level, Princess Lalla Salma suggested a four-fold action plan to address health problems. The plan rests namely on reinforcing solidarity among the region's countries, bolstering support to scientific research, adopting a national strategic planning approach, and paying key attention to the victims of this disease.
Princess Lalla Salma, spouse of HM king Mohammed VI, said the MENA region suffers from the propagation of cancer, especially that it has become a major market for tobacco.
The Princess, who chairs Morocco's anti-cancer association, said the north African country has drafted a ten-year plan for the prevention and control of cancer, which will be an example based on good governance in the field of health.
The meeting, she said, comes amidst an international situation marked by an economic and financial crisis that has a negative impact on the social conditions, in addition to the risks of the propagation of the H1N1 virus, and the need for national and international efforts to fight it.
The crisis has, however, increased awareness about the need to favour the emergence of a new world health order, which is marked by equity and founded on solidarity and responsibility.
© Agence Maghreb Arabe Presse 2009
