Mrs. Miri Ziv, Director General of the Israel Cancer Association, was elected Global Cancer Ambassador by the American Cancer Society.
She will represent Israel at the first-ever cancer survivor led campaign event organized by the American Cancer Society at the United Nations in New York City on June 18-20, 2011. This meeting is taking place in order to put a face on the global cancer burden and engage the UN in addressing the global cancer issue.
For this unique event - titled "We Can, We Should, We Will Conquer Cancer" – the American Cancer Society will bring in almost 100 inspirational global cancer “ambassadors” who have a compelling story to tell about how the disease is affecting their countries, their lives, and their families. They will bring their stories directly to their UN ambassadors so they can demand the UN make NCDs a global priority and get the resources it needs to save and change lives. The American Cancer Society will also bring in journalists from more than 40 countries to attend key briefings on cancer and link them to leading experts on the disease to mobilize public attention around the UN High-level Meeting on NCDs.
The United Nations High-level Meeting on noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), including cancer, will take place September 19-20, 2011, in New York. This is the second such meeting to focus on a global health issue. The first was the HIV/AIDS meeting in 2001, which led to increased funds for communicable diseases.
Cancer affects people from all walks of life, from every corner of the earth. Only together we can ensure cancer and NCDs are recognized for the imminent health challenge that they are, and are seriously addressed as a development, health, and equity issue.