"We cannot lose sight of the new Africa that's emerging," announced U.S. President Barack Obama as he inaugurated the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit, the first event of its kind and the largest summit any American president has held with African heads-of-state. At a side event hosted by Mrs Michelle Obama and Mrs Laura Bush, entitled "Investing in Our Future" and attended by thirty African First Ladies, former U.S. President George W. Bush delivered a keynote address in support of his Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon initiative (PRRR) and to reach out to potential international partners, including the IAEA.
Kwaku Aning, Deputy Director General and Head of the Department of Technical Cooperation, attended the side event and discussed cancer-control issues with several African First Spouses. Most notably perhaps was the signing of a Practical Arrangement (PA) by Mr Aning and Dr Doyin Oluwole, Executive Director of the PRRR initiative, which calls for collaboration between the IAEA and PRRR in the area of cancer control in low- and middle-income countries. The PA specifically stresses the need to undertake capacity-building with respect to breast and cervical cancers to ensure that women have unfettered access to timely, effective diagnosis and treatment services, including radiation medicine services.
Established by the George W. Bush Institute, the Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon initiative addresses the bipartite challenge of HIV and cancers of the reproductive systems. The former weakens the immune system and reduces the body's capacity to fight communicable diseases such as HPV infection. Cervical cancer is often the direct result of a declining immunity to cancer-causing infections, such as HPV. Indeed, cervical cancer is four to five times more common among HIV-positive women.
"Taken together, cervical and breast cancers are the number one killer of women in Africa," explained former President Bush. "And the suffering spreads across generations. When a mother dies young, her children are less likely to be healthy and educated, and more likely to die young as well. One of the best ways to help children is to help their mothers live to raise them."
President Bush went on to remark, "I am particularly grateful to GlaxoSmithKline, Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation, GE, IAEA, and the American Cancer Society for their willingness to work in [Namibia and Ethiopia] by providing education, vaccinations, screening and treatment."
The Practical Arrangement between the IAEA and PRRR will focus on capacity building through knowledge exchange, cancer control assessments, and mentoring. The Agency looks forward to three years of cooperation with the Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon initiative, and to making a difference in the lives of Africans struck by these two deadly diseases.