Today, ASCO and the European Cancer Organisation (ECO) held a virtual briefing with oncologists in Ukraine, Poland, and Romania to address the impact the war is having on patients with cancer displaced within Ukraine and those fleeing to neighboring countries.
The briefing also included remarks from Richard Sullivan, MD, PhD, Director of the Institute of Cancer Policy at King’s College London, and a World Health Emergency Committee Member, who detailed the enormity of the crisis: “Since February 24, we’ve seen around 3.3 million refugees from Ukraine now passing to host countries. This is probably the single biggest and fastest increase in refugee population that Europe has ever experienced, and potentially in the world…. Even if the war stopped tomorrow, it’s going to take between a year and a year-and-a-half to rebuild cancer care in Ukraine, so this is a real medium- to long-term commitment from Europe to look after these patients,” he said.
In her closing remarks, Julie Gralow, MD, FACP, FASCO, Chief Medical Officer and Executive Vice President of ASCO, presented information on the resources and networks developed to support oncology clinicians and their patients in the region and how the oncology community can assist in this effort.
To listen to this webinar, go to asco.org/ukraine. A centralized list of resources for Ukrainian patients with cancer and for clinicians providing care for these patients in Ukraine and in regional host countries is also available at asco.org.
