2016 WCC - Deadline extension - Call for sessions

The Union for International Cancer Control (About UICC) is now calling for proposals from the global cancer community to help shape a powerful programme for the next World Cancer Congress, in Paris, France, on 31st October – 3rd November 2016. Don’t miss this opportunity to contribute and demonstrate the power of pioneering thinking and lighting initiatives to 3’500 delegates. 

A set of guidelines, outlined below, have been developed to guide you in submitting a proposal that is aligned with the requirements to fit in the programme. 

2016 WORLD CANCER CONGRESS

1. OVERVIEW

In recent years, a great tradition has been established, wherein cancer control experts and leaders from around the world meet every two years at an exciting world destination to discuss burning cancer control topics, share the latest information and hear about successful interventions in prevention, diagnosis and care, and also, of course, get to know one another.

In its new and unique format, the World Cancer Congress, organised by UICC, has now reached a strong recognition amongst the global cancer community and has been acknowledged as the leading international conference in cancer control. This meeting is exclusively dedicated to implementation science and welcomes representatives from across the whole spectrum of the cancer control and the non-communicable disease communities.

The Congress also strengthens UICC’s role as a convenor and connector of individuals and organisations committed to significantly reducing the global cancer burden, promoting greater equity, and integrating cancer control into the world health and development agenda. With this in mind, global advocacy will be a powerful topic running throughout the programme. 

So after China, Canada and Australia, the World Cancer Congress comes to Europe in 2016. 

UICC and its hosts for the 24th edition, the French League Against Cancer (La Ligue Nationale contre le Cancer) and the Alliance of African & Mediterranean French Speaking Leagues Against Cancer (ALIAM), look forward to staging the next World Cancer Congress in the City of Lights – Paris, France - from 31st October to 3rd November 2016 at the Palais des congrès. The world’s top destination for international conferences will lend its striking backdrop to what promises to be a truly exciting journey of knowledge.

With the inclusion of cancer and other non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in the Post 2015 Development Agenda, the 2016 World Cancer Congress theme, Mobilising action - Inspiring change, will provide an even more opportune platform to Congress delegates to build on this momentum and continue to expand their sphere of influence and action for the successful implementation of these global commitments in their own settings.

2. AUDIENCE

Approximately 3,500 delegates from over 110 countries, representing the whole spectrum of cancer control will participate in the 2016 World Cancer Congress

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3. PROGRAMME OUTLINE – TRACKS

Track1 - Stemming the tide: innovations in prevention and screening
The sessions within Track 1 will cover the full spectrum of cancer prevention and early detection, including health promotion, examples of best practice in new evidence based prevention and early detection strategies, contemporary trends in epidemiology, as well as new areas of development in advocacy, policy, programmes, communications, media and messaging, and education. 

An important emphasis will be given to methods targeting behavioural risk factors as well as underlying factors such as social and economic disadvantages. As a key area of cancer control, tobacco control will be featured as a mature field in which knowledge could be generalised and transferred to other risk factors. Including tobacco control in a broader sense will facilitate an important exchange between participants with the goal of improving prevention outcomes for all risk factors.  Initiatives of high relevance to low and middle income countries and low resource environments will be given priority, as will cutting edge work and innovation in any community. An overriding consideration in choosing these sessions is “what can other delegates learn from this session that might be of advantage to them in advancing cancer control in their communities”?

In calling for submissions for 60 minute sessions the following may be a helpful guide:

• Among cancer prevention efforts – can we identify key elements of success, or key elements of poor outcomes, from which others can learn
• What issues and risk factors in prevention gain insufficient priority and how can this be redressed.
• What is the evidence and what are the learnings from current and emerging screening and early detection programmes that will help reduce the burden of cancer in the medium term?
• What experience and evidence can we report about assessing and guiding resource investment for the best possible cancer prevention and early detection outcome
• What new technologies will be important to push further progress on prevention, early detection, screening and vaccination to improve cancer control

Track 2 - Closing the gap: quality cancer treatment and diagnosis for all
The sessions in Track 2 will address the need for comprehensive care for those affected by cancer, including access to diagnosis and treatment, quality, measures to decrease treatment toxicity. The sessions will also highlight the scientific and clinical advances in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer, and the research to overcome inequalities in cancer care.

In calling for submissions for 60 minute sessions the following may be a helpful guide:

• How can we strengthen the healthcare systems to optimize the capacity for treatment delivery
• How can we improve access to treatment (i.e. radiotherapy, surgical care, chemotherapy etc)
• How can we improve the quality of diagnostic and therapeutic interventions and reduce unwarranted variation in treatment and diagnosis
• What are the challenges in providing optimal diagnostic and therapeutic interventions
• How do we improve the value of cancer care
• How can we strengthen health human resources in cancer
• How can we use more effectively information and communication technologies to improve access and quality of care
• What role do partnerships and cross-border collaborations play in cancer care
• How can the cross-border partnerships accelerate progress in closing the equity gap in cancer care?
• How can we optimize the economic impact of cancer care?
• What are the innovations in cancer care delivery 

Track 3 - Improving patient and family experiences
This track focuses on successful interventions in improving the experience of care delivery and support outcomes such as pain and symptom management, quality of life and psychological wellbeing. The track spans the pathway of care from suspicion of cancer through to treatment, post-treatment, survivorship and palliative and end-of-life care and sessions are aimed at patient, health professional or systems levels. 

In calling for submissions for 60 minute sessions the following may be a helpful guide:

• What are our best opportunities for fostering self-management strategies to improve patient and family experience
• Prehabilitation to rehabilitation – where are the missing links in survivorship and supportive care
• How will the system manage the rising prevalence of cancer survivors 
• What models of collaborative care across Government and non-Government settings assist meeting the supportive care needs of patients and families
• Can access to palliative care be enhanced by rethinking our approach to service delivery
• Can an understanding of patient and family experience help to shape a more patient-centred health care system

Track 4 - Strengthening cancer control: optimising outcomes of health systems 
This track adds value by channelling intellectual effort, collaborations, access to shared resources to stimulate the dialogue about strengthening national, regional and local health systems and guiding quality improvement in all aspects of cancer systems strengthening from diagnosis – pathology and imaging through to surgery. Surveillance systems, including cancer registries population risk factor monitoring, and cancer system performance reporting will be a key focus, with an emphasis on how they can be used to optimize cancer control.

In calling for submissions for 60 minute sessions the following may be a helpful guide:

• How has registering data been used to change practice in cancer prevention or cancer services
• How can reporting on cancer system performance have an impact on the quality of care
• What are innovative ways in including patient voices and experiences in planning cancer control systems
• In countries where cancer control plans have been implemented, what is the key evidence of their impact
• Are they key steps to success in integrating different parts of the cancer care system (laboratories, surgery, radiotherapy, etc.) for optimal patient outcomes
• What innovations can we make to deal with the expected dramatic increase in cancer cases
• How do we ensure sustainable cancer control system

NEW! Track 5 – Empowering civil societies: building capacity for change
As a UICC core priority, capacity building will be strongly reflected throughout this new track. Individuals and organisations will have the opportunity to strengthen their skills, competencies and abilities thanks to dedicated and specialised sessions, allowing them to achieve measurable and sustainable results in their own environment. The objective is to increase the global cancer community’s effectiveness and performance to enable them to successfully respond to fast changing economic conditions, new stakeholders behaviours, political and regulatory challenges and technological trends. 

The sessions will propose various tools and solutions for individuals and NGOs, ranging from business strategy and planning, fundraising strategies, governance, cross-sectorial collaboration, advocacy tools and much more.

In calling for submissions for 60 minute sessions the following may be a helpful guide:

• How can good governance minimise risk and maximise the effectiveness of an organisation
• What are the essential strategies and controls required for developing sustainable business plans
• Are there innovations in information and communication technologies to help us extend our voice through a variety of people and platforms
• Is exploring new opportunities of fund raising beyond the conventional sources of funding worthwhile
• What is required to develop skilled manpower and workplaces in under resourced communities
• Are there opportunities to foster effective partnerships with cancer control stakeholders such as government, academia, industry and international networks

CALL FOR SESSIONS

1. PROCESS AND DEADLINE

The deadline to submit session proposals is Friday 4th September 2015 at 24h00 CET.  - DEADLINE EXTENSION TO 16 SEPTEMBER 2015
All session proposals will be submitted for review to the 2016 World Cancer Congress Programme Committee. The appointed Congress Programme Committee will evaluate and adjust the submitted proposals to ensure they address an international audience, echo UICC's purpose and the five programme tracks. 
This may include accepting sessions as originally proposed or working with session organisers to combine one or more proposals. All session organisers should be notified on the status of their proposals by Friday 30th October 2015. 
This Call for sessions Guidelines is an essential tool to help you in the development of your proposal
All session organisers need to have their accepted sessions fully confirmed by 4th December 2015. 
The 2016 WCC Preliminary Programme, including presentation titles and speakers’ names, will be released online on the World Cancer Congress website from 15th January 2016
It is only for the ’Call for sessions’ that you are now kindly invited to share with us your proposals using the online form below. 

-    Call for abstracts: abstracts constitute an important part of the programme content. All accepted abstracts will be presented at the Congress in either an e-poster presentation or rapid-fire presentation or oral session. UICC will open its ‘Call for abstracts’ from 25th January to 25th April 2016. Abstracts will undergo a two-tier review process. 
 

2.    SESSION TOPICS

• All session proposals should be submitted through the online system
• Incomplete proposals may not be reviewed
• Each proposed session should be coordinated by a ‘Session organiser’ who will be acting as the main liaison between UICC and the session speakers.
• All sessions are 60 minutes 
• A proposed topic should be relevant to an issue that is of global interest and not pertinent to one institution only.
• The proposed session should be aligned with at least one of the proposed tracks and should be in line with the Congress overarching theme.
• Within each track description, a number of questions have been raised, which are a helpful guide in putting your proposal together.
• A preference will be given to cross-country, cross-organisation or cross-sector collaboration proposals. If you wish to contact experts from other organisations, a listing of UICC member organisations may be found here: UICC Members. 
• Session proposals should be submitted in English only. A limited number of sessions will benefit from simultaneous translation into French. The selection of the translated sessions will be made by the Programme Committee, who will evaluate the impact of the session and the relevance of interpreting the session in regards of the topic and/or the targeted audience. 
• Topics already proposed in past World Cancer Congresses should demonstrate a significant update and/or progress since the last presentation, and important enough to be presented at the next World Cancer Congress. 
• Session organisers are recommended to incorporate content that will have an aim and determined learning objectives. It is recommended to arm participating delegates with interesting and practical tools that they will be able to take away with them and share upon their return from the Congress.
• Sessions should focus largely at prioritising interaction with the audience and a minimum of 10 minutes for “questions and answers” should be allocated.
• Innovative ideas and evidence based practices that fit in the selected themes are highly encouraged
• The Programme Committee will determine the day and time of presentation within the programme. The programme schedule will be communicated to session organisers in February 2016.
• When you are filling in your session proposal form, you will be asked to select a preferred ‘Session format’:
  • Symposium (lecture format)
  • Discussion panel (within this format, it is recommended to minimize the use of Power Point presentations to maximise interactions between the speakers) 
  • Lounge session (maximising interaction with the audience in an informal setting)

3.    SPEAKERS

• Proposed speakers should be aware that their names have been put forward by the session organiser, as well as be available to attend the Congress should the proposal be accepted by the Programme Committee.
• A chair/moderator can also take a speaker role within the same session
• Each speaker (or chair) must have a good command of English. 
• Each accepted sessions will be granted 4 free registrations (including speakers and  chair/moderator) 
• Upon request, a very limited number of travel grants will be made available for speakers from low-and-middle-income countries* (*following the World Bank classification). UICC will not provide any funding or honorarium for proposed speakers. Travel Grant requests for a speaker may be done in writing to UICC, only after the session has been accepted by the Programme Committee.  
• To benefit from their complimentary registrations, speakers and chairs need to register online before Friday 27 May 2016. After this deadline, the free registration may not be granted and the applicable registration fee will apply. A specific weblink will be shared for this purpose.
• Each session organiser is in charge of confirming all the speakers in her/his session and should ensure all their presentations (if applicable) have been submitted on time.