Dear HIFA,
On Wednesday 4 November cervical cancer featured predominantly at the inaugural First Wives and Spouses Forum at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Antigua. The Forum lasted around 90 minutes, was streamed live and can currently be viewed online at https://www.facebook.com/61584312295508/posts/chogm-2026-spouses-partner....
It is well worth watching as the speakers, which included the First Ladies of Antigua & Barbuda and of Sierra Leone and Dr. Kamaria De Castro (Chief Medical Officer of Antigua and Barbuda), did not mince their words. To quote Dr Rhonda Sealey Thomas. Assistant Director of the Pan American Health Organization “...the fact that we have women in the Commonwealth who are still dying of cervical cancer, and we have a clear pathway, is a human rights violation.”
A core purpose of the First Wives and Spouses Forum at CHOGM 2026 was to launch the Lancet Oncology Commission on Cancer in the Commonwealth. For the next forty days HIFA members can download the published Commission for free at Cancer in the Commonwealth: a Lancet Oncology Commission - ScienceDirect. [*see note below]
The Commission is a landmark document running to 25,000 words. Section 12: Education and professional development is most pertinent to our current discussion on strengthening access to information and overcoming stigma.
Regards,
Mark
Mark Lodge
Commissioning Editor, Cancer Control 2026
Immediate Past Chair UK and Ireland Global Cancer Network
Prama House
267 Banbury Road
Oxford OX 2 7HT UK
Email mlodge@canet.org
URL https://www.ukgcn.org ; www.cancercontrol.info
HIFA profile: Mark Lodge is the Commissioning Editor for the annual Cancer Control [ https://www.cancercontrol.info/ ] and the immediate past Chair of the UK and Ireland Global Cancer Network (https://www.ukgcn.org/). He serves on the Lancet Oncology Commission on Cancer in the Commonwealth and is a member of the UK Working Group on NCDs. Previously he was the UK Director of the International Network for Cancer Treatment and Research. He lives in Oxford, UK. He is a member of the HIFA working group on cervical cancer. https://www.hifa.org/support/members/mark mlodge AT canet.org
[*Note from HIFA moderator (NPW): Thank you Mark. Here is the link to the Lancet Commission: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanonc/article/PIIS1470-2045(26)00396-7/abstract The full text is accessible after free registration.]