ASCP Effort Recognized as a Clinton Global Initiative Commitment to Action

Nov 2, 2015—The American Society for Clinical Pathology, ASCP, announced today a 2015 Clinton Global Initiative Commitment to Action, Partners for Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment in Africa. The effort will provide patients in underserved areas of Sub-Saharan Africa access to rapid cancer diagnostics and appropriate care and treatment.

Approximately 650,000 people in Africa develop cancer annually, and about 510,000 cancer deaths occur annually due to limited treatment. More than one third of the cancer deaths in Africa are from cancers that are easily preventable and/or treatable, if detected early. This initiative will bring together organizations with the expertise necessary to diagnose cancer earlier and provide appropriate treatment, as well as establish a sustainable laboratory infrastructure to address these issues in the future.

By leveraging leap frog technology and the skills and experience of ASCP members, clinicians in Sub-Saharan Africa can have access to quality real-time cancer diagnostics, allowing them to detect cancers and subsequently treat patients more quickly. ASCP and partners will develop and administer an economical, scalable, secure, and reliable cloud-based infrastructure and telemedicine platform to register specimens, record findings, and disseminate diagnostic results to local clinicians who can implement patient management. Through this commitment, local clinicians in Sub-Saharan Africa will be able to provide a level of diagnostic care currently scarce or unavailable locally.

ASCP, the world’s largest professional membership organization for pathologists and laboratory professionals, will lead a cross sector coalition of industry, non-profits, and professional societies that have committed $26.5 million of infrastructure, funding, and in-kind resources to improve pathology services in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) in support of the goals of the World Health Organization’s Global Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases (NCD).

The coalition will include the internationally-renowned Partners in Health led by public health expert Paul Farmer, MD; the American Cancer Society; the Institute for Health Measurement and Evaluation; Union International Cancer Control; Sakura Finetek; Roche Diagnostics; Pfizer; and Omnyx, LLC /GE Healthcare. Partners in Health is a critical partner that will provide access to care and treatment for patients. The American Society for Microbiology, the Association of Public Health Laboratories, the African Strategies for Advancing Pathology, and the Institute for Health Measurement and Evaluation will provide data analytics and ensure quality implementation. The coalition will engage its African partners as well as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

ASCP will bring to this initiative the best practices developed during its 10-year partnership with the CDC in the implementation of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) program to treat and prevent AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria in Sub-Saharan Africa and alleviate suffering from other infectious and chronic diseases.

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About the Clinton Global Initiative 
Established in 2005 by President Bill Clinton, the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI), an initiative of the Clinton Foundation, convenes global leaders to create and implement solutions to the world's most pressing challenges. CGI Annual Meetings have brought together 190 sitting and former heads of state, more than 20 Nobel Prize laureates, and hundreds of leading CEOs, heads of foundations and NGOs, major philanthropists, and members of the media. To date, members of the CGI community have made more than 3,200 Commitments to Action, which have improved the lives of over 430 million people in more than 180 countries.

In addition to the Annual Meeting, CGI convenes CGI America, a meeting focused on collaborative solutions to economic recovery in the United States; and CGI University (CGI U), which brings together undergraduate and graduate students to address pressing challenges in their community or around the world. This year, CGI also convened CGI Middle East & Africa, which brought together leaders across sectors to take action on pressing social, economic, and environmental challenges.

For more information, visitclintonglobalinitiative.org and follow us on Twitter @ClintonGlobal and Facebook at facebook.com/clintonglobalinitiative.

About ASCP 
Founded in 1922 in Chicago, ASCP is a medical professional society with more than 100,000 member board-certified anatomic and clinical pathologists, pathology residents and fellows, laboratory professionals, and students. ASCP provides excellence in education, certification, and advocacy on behalf of patients, pathologists, and laboratory professionals. To learn more, visit http://www.ascp.org. Follow us on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/ascp_chicago and connect with us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/ASCP.Chicago.