Latin America and the Caribbean Code Against Cancer

The Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) Code Against Cancer is the first regional adaptation of the European Code Against Cancer, under the umbrella of the World Code Against Cancer Framework.

More than 60 experts from the region have developed a set of 17 cancer prevention recommendations for the public, suited to the epidemiological, economic, social, and cultural conditions of Latin America and the Caribbean. Each recommendation is accompanied by recommendations for policy-makers to guide governments in establishing the infrastructure needed to enable the public to adopt the recommendations.

The first edition of the LAC Code Against Cancer offers unified and clear evidence-based messages to educate the population on cancer prevention, and also provides an exceptional public health instrument to guide and support governments in the implementation of their cancer control strategies, as well as an e-learning tool for primary health care providers.

The LAC Code Against Cancer has the following three levels of information or outputs:

Level 1: 17 region-specific evidence-based recommendations on cancer prevention targeted to the general population and to policy-makers (developed in Spanish, and translated into Portuguese and English)

Level 2: An online competency-based microlearning programme for health professionals in primary care, on the topics covered by the recommendations (developed in Spanish, and to be translated into Portuguese and English). This online competency-based microlearning programme is hosted in the PAHO Virtual Campus for Public Health

Level 3: Publication of the recommendations’ scientific justification and evidence base in peer-reviewed articles, directed to the scientific community (in English)

Latin America and the Caribbean Code Against Cancer, 1st edition (LAC Code Against Cancer)

Partners

More than 60 experts across Latin America and the Caribbean are currently involved in the development, implementation, and dissemination of the first Latin America and the Caribbean Code Against Cancer.

The Coordination Group for Development and Maintenance is composed of:

  • Secretariat:
    - Carolina Espina (Principal Investigator), International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC/WHO)
    - Ariadna Feliu Josa, International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC/WHO)
    - Joachim Schüz (Senior Advisor), International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC/WHO)
    - Andre Carvalho (Senior Advisor), International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC/WHO)
    - Catherine Chassin, International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC/WHO)
    - Mauricio Maza, Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO)
    - Silvana Luciani, Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO)

  • Chairs of the Experts Working Groups:
    - Juan A. Rivera Dommarco (Lifestyle), Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública, Mexico
    - Catterina Ferreccio (Environmental and occupational risks), Advanced Center for Chronic Diseases (ACCDiS), Chile
    - Rolando Herrero (Infections and vaccination), Agencia Costarricense de Investigaciones Biomédicas - Fundación INCIENSA (ACIB-FUNIN), Costa Rica
    - Maribel Almonte (Medical interventions), International Agency for Research on Cancer, France
    - Carolyn Finck (Communication), Facultad de Ciencias Sociales de la Universidad de los Andes, Colombia


The Coordination Group for Implementation, Dissemination, and Exploitation is composed of:

  • Secretariat: Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) (from 2016)

    www.paho.org/en
  • Latin American and Caribbean Society of Medical Oncology (SLACOM) and
    Network of National Cancer Institutes and Institutions (RINC); and SLACOM (RINC-SLACOM) (from 2020)

    https://rinc-slacom.org

  • Asociación Latina e Ibérica Contra el Cáncer (ALICC) (from 2016)

    www.alicc.org

  • Healthy Caribbean Coalition (from 2017)

    www.healthycaribbean.org


Special acknowledgment to:
Iberoamerican Cochrane Centre/Institut de Recerca de l'Hospital de Sant Pau: Literature review group (from 2021)

www.cochrane.org

Funders:
Sociedade Beneficente Israelita Brasileira Albert Einstein


www.einstein.br/en

International Agency for Research on Cancer

www.iarc.who.int/

American Cancer Society

www.cancer.org