Secretary Thompson Meets with the Middle East Cancer Consortium

Left to right: Dr. Joe Harford, Director Office of International Affairs, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD; Dr. Samir Al-Kayed, Chairman MECC BoG, Amman, Jordan; Dr. Faleh Al-Nasser, Minister of Health, Amman, Jordan; Prof. Rami Rahamimoff, Chief Scientist, Ministry of Health, Jerusalem, Israel; Secretary Tommy Thompson, USA; Mr. Frixos Savvides, Minister of Health, Nicosia, Cyprus; Dr. Munzer Sharif, Deputy Minster of Health, Nablus, The Palestinian Authority; and Dr. Michael Silbermann, Executive Director.

May 14, 2002 - The Ministerial Committee for the Middle East Cancer Consortium (MECC) met in Geneva, Switzerland, on May 14, 2002. The MECC is based on a ministerial agreement signed in 1996. The flagship activity of MECC is the support of six population-based cancer registries. MECC provides assistance for registries in Cyprus, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Gaza, and the West Bank.

Cancer registries are critical components of a public health system, providing information on the incidence of cancer, as well as on outcomes in terms of survival. Secretary Thompson chaired the annual meeting.

Last revised: September 04, 2007