Perspectives on Strategies for Establishing Cancer on the Global Health Agenda: Possibilities of Creating Infrastructure for Cancer Prevention Information using School

The Asia Cancer Forum is a body that is committed to strategic analysis in the area of cancer research. Theultimate objective of the Forum is to achieve the inclusion of cancer in the Millennium Development Goals(MDGs) of the United Nations. The MDGs have a tremendous influence on the setting of the global healthagenda and the inclusion of cancer within their scope would be greatly beneficial to the global development ofcancer research. Although diseases such as HIV/AIDS and malaria remain priority issues for global health, thetime has come for policy transformation. Preventive activities and measures require a long period of time beforeresults become apparent and as the cost-benefit effect of allocated funds cannot be measured in the short-term,preventive activities have therefore tended to be given a low priority in terms of national policy. We must take along-term perspective that looks ahead to the issues that will face future generations. Transcending challengespresented by cultural diversity, we must work to position cancer as a central theme on the global health agenda,even in the face of limited medical resources. Promoting cancer prevention activities through readily availableinfrastructure in the form of health classes in schools is also of great significance in terms of setting the agendafor global health. As a joint China-Japan research project, in China a questionnaire survey has been implementedthrough school pupils, with pupils and parents being asked about health classes implemented in schools. Fromthe perspective of formulating strategy for establishing cancer on the global health agenda we will use the datagained from the surveys to analyze and examine the possibilities and significance of creating an infrastructurefor a multilateral information network about cancer prevention.