In this talk, we will review the expected increasing demand for cancer services among low and middle-income countries (LMICs) in the Asia-Pacific (APAC), and to describe ways in which Australia and New Zealand can provide support to improve cancer outcomes in our region. We outline 6 ways through which Australia and New Zealand can collaborate with LMICs to improve cancer care in the APAC:
- Increasing education and institutional collaborations in the APAC region through in-country training, twinning partnerships, observerships and formalised training programs in order to increase cancer care quality and capacity;
- Promoting and assisting in the establishment and maintenance of population-based cancer registries in LMICs;
- Increasing research capacity in LMICs through collaboration and promoting high quality global oncology research within Australia and New Zealand;
- Engaging and training Australian and New Zealand clinicians in global oncology, increasing awareness of this important career path, and increasing health policy engagement;
- Increasing web-based endeavours through virtual tumour boards, web-based advocacy platforms and web-based teaching programs;
- Continue to leverage for funding through professional bodies, government, not-for-profit organisations and local hospital funds.
Finally, we will discuss the structure and objectives of the newly formed COSA Special Interest Group in Global Oncology.