Yakup Gözderesi

Conference 2024 Hot-Doc

Talk Title

Leveraging youth voices in cancer control: To prevent takes and offers more than treat

Authors and Affiliations

Yakup Gözderesi 1,2, Christos Tsagkaris 2,3, Gizem Acar 2,4

1. General Practitioner, Turkish Ministry of Health Istanbul Bahcelievler State Hospital, Istanbul, Türkiye
2. ECL, Association of European Cancer Leagues, 1000 Bruxelles, Belgium
3. European Student Think Tank, Public Health and Policy Working Group, Amsterdam, Netherlands
4. UCL School of Pharmacy, London, UK

Abstract

Background

Cancer constitutes a leading cause of morbidity and mortality globally. The rising incidence of several types of cancer among all age groups calls for enhancing cancer prevention efforts. The major potential of young people to contribute to health and well-being globally has recently been highlighted by the World Health Organization, setting a reminder of the responsibility of young people to adopt a healthy lifestyle, while contributing to relevant collective efforts. The adoption of healthier lifestyles by the youth can lead to a significant decrease in the incidence of cancer cases in the future.

Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) focusing on health are key stakeholders capable of raising health literacy and engaging and representing the public in health policymaking. The Association of European Cancer Leagues (ECL) is a health NGO working for effective cancer prevention in the WHO Europe region and promotes the European Code Against Cancer (ECAC). ECAC is the message list that contains 12 cancer prevention recommendations for the general public at any age and educational/cultural background based on the latest scientific evidence on cancer prevention. The ECL Youth Ambassadors (YAs) for the European Code against Cancer combine young people from the WHO Europe region to act on cancer prevention.

Methods

The YAs for the Republic of Türkiye have organized 19 single events and several social media campaigns between 2019 and 2023. The collaboration meetings aimed to reach local NGO leaders and new stakeholders and create an impact on the cancer prevention era. Online campaigns such as artistic exhibitions, and call-to-action announcements, challenges aimed to reach the general public and share the importance of cancer prevention messages. With face-to-face training sessions, YAs contacted university students from four cities and underlined ECAC messages and effective cancer prevention passwords. Online training sessions filled a gap that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic and had a positive impact. Through digital communications campaigns, 65 Instagram posts were produced and shared.

Conclusions

Overall, the engagement of young people in cancer prevention is pivotal. Youth work and peer-to-peer learning and inspiration need to be critically appraised, and effective practices need to be documented and scaled across relevant domains of health promotion and youth work. By working together and leveraging the unique strengths and perspectives of the youth, we can encourage and empower young people to take up leadership roles in cancer prevention.