Uzbekistan Brings Together the International Community at the UN to Strengthen the Fight Against Childhood Cancer

For the first time in the history of the United Nations General Assembly, Uzbekistan held a special event dedicated to “A global movement to improve survival and reduce suffering for children with cancer and other catastrophic diseases”.

The event was hosted by the Government of Uzbekistan, WHO, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and Zamin Foundation.

The event was attended by the First Ladies of Azerbaijan, Angola, Vietnam, Guatemala, Serbia, and Türkiye, the spouse of the Prime Minister of Lebanon, the Director-General of WHO, the President of ECOSOC, the President and leadership of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, as well as the Ministers of Health of Angola, Armenia, Bangladesh, Mozambique, the Dominican Republic, Nigeria, Kazakhstan, Qatar, the Republic of the Congo, Kyrgyzstan, Malta, Mongolia, the UAE, Peru, Tajikistan, Timor-Leste, Tuvalu, Türkiye, Chad, and Jamaica, along with representatives of healthcare authorities of Hungary, Indonesia, Russia and Tanzania, international organizations, experts and civil society representatives.

The event showcased the results of the Global Initiative for Childhood Cancer and the Global Platform for Access to Childhood Cancer Medicines. Participants reaffirmed their commitment to achieving a 60% survival rate for children with cancer by 2030 through the development of equitable, integrated and locally resourced health systems.

In her address to the participants of the event, chair of the Board of Trustees of the Zamin Foundation Ziroat Mirziyoyeva mentioned:

"Currently, more than 2 billion children worldwide are at risk or suffer from non-communicable diseases. That is almost a third of the world's population. Millions of them are fighting cancer. Despite the achievements of modern medicine, survival rates remain uneven: in developed countries, they are above 80%, while in developing countries, they are below 30%. This is an unacceptable gap. We are obliged to take steps in order to prevent this tragedy!"

In his address, Director-General of the World Health Organization Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus underlined emphasized: “Every child suffering from cancer deserves an equal right to fight for their life, regardless of the country or community they come from. That is why we launched the WHO Global Initiative for Childhood Cancer. The results speak for themselves: the program has helped more than 400 thousand children in 80 low- and middle-income countries”.

Speaking at the event, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital President James R. Downing stated: “To fulfill our promise that no child should die at the dawn of life, we are laying the foundations of the Global Sickle Cell Disease Initiative, aimed at improving survival rates among children with this condition. I call on every United Nations member state to join both global initiatives. This must become a priority for all countries”.

Children affected by these diseases became special guests of the event. Their touching stories deeply resonated with the participants. From Uzbekistan, young graduate and volunteer of Mehrli maktab, Samira Idrisova, shared her journey.

Uzbekistan is actively contributing to the global movement for children’s health. In recent years, the country has implemented large-scale programs to reduce child cancer mortality, mobilized additional resources, introduced new standards for diagnosis and treatment, and expanded access to medicines.

The country has adopted the National Strategy to Combat Childhood Cancer for 2025–2030, aligned with the WHO’s CureAll framework. The strategy envisions raising the early detection rate to 65%, increasing one-year survival from 34% to 90%, five-year survival to 60%, and ensuring 100% access to specialized multidisciplinary care.

Moreover, an International Academic Hub for Childhood Cancer has been established in Tashkent aimed at facilitating the integration of international standards in diagnostics, specialist training, and innovation, as well as the exchange of best practices and the development of modern clinical research.

The event became an important international platform for the exchange of expertise, demonstration of solidarity and promotion of innovative solutions in addressing one of the most pressing and often underestimated challenges in global healthcare.

The discussion continued with panel sessions focused on sustaining progress in childhood cancer treatment and implementing the global initiative to combat sickle cell anemia.

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