We’re excited to share a major milestone in BCNA's advocacy. Last week, the United Nations formally adopted the Political Declaration on Non-Communicable Diseases and Mental Health - and through the advocacy work of BCNA, breast cancer is explicitly named in the final text 🎉
✨ Why this matters:
Although it might seem confusing for BCNA to focus our advocacy efforts overseas as well as in Australia, the UN declaration helps place critical attention on our own government's ongoing priorities for policy and investment issues that impact people affected by breast cancer. It also enshrines international accountability for supporting people living with breast cancer.
💪 How BCNA made this happen:
In July, when breast cancer was missing from the draft UN Declaration, BCNA met with the Australian Ambassador to the UN and the Mission team in New York. We did this because something we know, after 27 years of advocating for people affected by breast cancer, is what is named gets attention, and what is not named is often overlooked.
Within 24 hours, we partnered with the Institute of Cancer Policy at King’s College London to produce evidence-based recommendations, informed by lived experience and global data. This paper helped shape Australia’s position, verified by Cancer Australia, DFAT, DoHA, and ministerial offices. In the final negotiations, Australia called for breast cancer to be named. No other country did. But once Australia spoke up, others followed. The result: breast cancer is now in the Declaration and people living with breast cancer in Australia are more empowered to keep speaking up and working towards strengthening our healthcare rights.
Thank you to all BCNA staff, partners, and the Australian Government for trusting us to lead this work. Your efforts made this global outcome possible.
📄 If you’re interested on what this all means from an impact perspective, you can read more:
👉UN Political Declaration: https://lnkd.in/gm8fV2MY
👉BCNA & Institute of Cancer Policy paper: https://lnkd.in/gQJcTTSf
👉BCNA takes your voice to the UN General Assembly: https://www.bcna.org.au/bcna-takes-your-voice-to-the-un-general-assembly
