The Ministry of Health of the Slovak Republic in cooperation with St. Jude Childrenński Research Hospital and WHO organizes an accompanying event on cancer issues in children. It will take place on Thursday, 21 September 2023 in New York during the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly.
I am convinced that we will have the opportunity to exchange knowledge and experience with our partners from the international community during the event, which will then be used to develop treatment methods and thus save the lives of our smallest patients. Not only in Slovakia but all over the world," said the Minister of Health of the Slovak Republic Michal Palkovič before the event of the Slovak Republic.
The Global Initiative on the subject (GICC) was launched by the World Health Organisation in 2018 and in cooperation with the Slovak Republic, which was involved in the preparation of this initiative. The initiative includes more than 80 countries from all regions of the world and aims to improve the success rate of cancer treatment for children to a global level by 2030 to achieve a minimum of 60% survival rate for children oncology patients worldwide.
In some countries, the survival of children with cancer is only 15-20%, but elsewhere, for example in Slovakia, it is around 80%. This large difference speaks of the need to strengthen the availability of early diagnosis, treatment, but also support for families with children with cancer. This change is possible only through a joint effort to make policies aimed at children's health," said Jozef Šuvada, Ambassador at large Slovakia for Global Health.
The Ministry of Health of the Slovak Republic, in cooperation with its partners, organizes an accompanying event on cancer issues in children on the occasion of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly held in New York these days. In addition to representatives at the highest level, including the President of the Slovak Republic Zuzana Čaputová, the events will also be attended by representatives of UN Member States, medical experts, patient organisations, non-state actors, UN agencies and media.

Organisational information: The event will take place in Thursday 21 September 2023 from 16:00 to 18:30 SELČ (10:00-12:30 New York time) at the United Nations Headquarters.In case of interest, the event can also be followed online, subject to registration on this link https://forms.gle/96UD2nKWM6PYVHXi6 until 20.9.023 until 18:00 SELČ.
A live link from the UN will then be sent to registered participants. The event will take place in English.