The manifesto, titled Manifesto on Improving Cancer Care in Conflict-Impacted Populations, has been published today in The Lancet.

Increasingly, as wars across the world continue to escalate, people with cancer face an ever-growing series of urgent challenges in conflict-affected regions, falling victim to the collateral damage of war on hospitals, on the healthcare supply chain and the massive displacement of patients that war creates.

The authors call for international collaboration to develop context-specific cancer services in acute humanitarian emergencies and in long-term conflict settings such as Ukraine and Palestine. They hope this manifesto will deliver immediate solutions that address the needs of the millions of cancer patients worldwide who are displaced by the consequences of war.

The manifesto sets out seven key priorities to ensure cancer services are preserved during conflict, including that the Geneva Convention is fully respected in protecting medical personnel, in prohibiting attacks against medical units, and in preserving the rights of sick people, including those diagnosed with cancer.

The experts also recommend the creation of a working group through the World Health Organisation (WHO), to implement and monitor cancer care in conflict-affected populations, including through cancer research.

Professor Mark Lawler, Professor of Digital Health at Queen’s University Belfast, Co-Chair of the newly established European Cancer Organisation’s Special Network on Emergencies and Crises and co-author of the manifesto, said: "The recent barbaric attack on the Okhmatdyt Hospital, the largest children's cancer treatment centre in Ukraine, emphasises the enormous damage that war can wreak on cancer patients and cancer health systems.

"Our seven-point manifesto recognises that context-specific solutions will be required across different settings. Exemplars such as the Ireland – Northern Ireland – US National Cancer Institute Consortium emphasise how international collaboration can empower delivery of the health dividend of peace. We will not waiver from supporting cancer patients in conflict-affected regions of the world. If we do not act as a matter of urgency, many more innocent victims will die."

Commenting on the manifesto, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) and a co-author on the paper said: "Cancer doesn’t stop during humanitarian emergencies, but ensuring continuity of cancer care is extremely challenging when health systems and services break down during conflict and other crises. In February this year, WHO hosted a global meeting on non-communicable diseases in humanitarian settings in Copenhagen, drawing attention to the need to build resilient health systems that can deliver essential services for cancer and NCDs, even in the most difficult circumstances."

Senior author Jemma Arakelyan, CEO at the Institute of Cancer and Crisis said: "The manifesto emphasizes the urgent need for international collaboration to develop and deliver specific cancer care services in acute humanitarian emergencies and protracted conflict settings, as well as supporting the implementation of pragmatic research to improve the understanding of patient needs and provide guidance for the design of specific care models."

Her Royal Highness Princess Dina Mired of Jordan, the Honorary President of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC), Patron of the International Society of Paediatric Oncology (SIOP) and a co-author, said: "We urge all stakeholders to come together to make this manifesto a reality. Cancer patients have long been ignored in conflict settings and now with the current situation for cancer patients in Gaza for example, the situation has manifested itself in its extreme form.

"The global health community, as first line defenders of health and well-being for all, should collectively voice their solidarity in the strongest of terms for the sanctity and protection of health services, as well as for the establishment of clear cancer care models to protect cancer patients during any conflict."

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Media inquiries to Sian Devlin at s.devlin@qub.ac.uk