Health diplomacy in action: The cancer legacy of the Good Friday Agreement

Mark Lawler; Richard Sullivan; Ghassan K Abou-Alfa; Karen McCloskey; Debbie Keatley; Jennifer Feighan; William Dahut; Eibhlin Mulroe; Robert Ladner; Mohamed Genead; Maeve Lowery; James L Gulley; Christopher J Scott; Daniel B Longley; Aedin Culhane; William M Gallagher; Nick Orr; Stephen J Chanock; Satish Gopal

doi:10.1016/j.jcpo.2023.100448

Health diplomacy in action: The cancer legacy of the Good Friday Agreement

J Cancer Policy. 2023 Dec:38:100448. doi: 10.1016/j.jcpo.2023.100448. Epub 2023 Oct 14.

Authors

Mark Lawler¹, Richard Sullivan², Ghassan K Abou-Alfa³, Karen McCloskey⁴, Debbie Keatley⁵, Jennifer Feighan⁵, William Dahut⁶, Eibhlin Mulroe⁷, Robert Ladner⁸, Mohamed Genead⁹, Maeve Lowery¹⁰, James L Gulley¹¹, Christopher J Scott¹², Daniel B Longley¹², Aedin Culhane¹³, William M Gallagher¹⁴, Nick Orr⁴, Stephen J Chanock¹⁵, Satish Gopal¹⁶

Affiliations

¹ Patrick G Johnston Centre for Cancer Research, Queen's University Belfast, UK; All-Island Cancer Research Institute, UK. Electronic address: mark.lawler@qub.ac.uk.
² Institute of Cancer Policy, Global Oncology Group, King's College London, UK.
³ Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA; Weill Medical College at Cornell University, New York, NY, USA; Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.
⁴ Patrick G Johnston Centre for Cancer Research, Queen's University Belfast, UK.
⁵ All-Island Cancer Research Institute, UK.
⁶ American Cancer Society, 3380 Chastain Meadows Pkwy NW, Suite 200 Kennesaw, GA 30144, USA.
⁷ All-Island Cancer Research Institute, UK; Cancer Trials Ireland, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin, Ireland.
⁸ Patrick G Johnston Centre for Cancer Research, Queen's University Belfast, UK; CV6 Therapeutics (NI) Ltd, Belfast, UK.
⁹ Aviceda Therapeutics Inc, Cambridge, MA, USA; Aviceda Glycotech Ltd., Belfast, UK.
¹⁰ All-Island Cancer Research Institute, UK; Trinity St James Cancer Institute, Ireland.
¹¹ Center for Immuno-Oncology, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA.
¹² Patrick G Johnston Centre for Cancer Research, Queen's University Belfast, UK; All-Island Cancer Research Institute, UK.
¹³ All-Island Cancer Research Institute, UK; Limerick Digital Cancer Research Centre, Health Research Institute, University of Limerick, Ireland.
¹⁴ All-Island Cancer Research Institute, UK; UCD School of Biomolecular and Biomedical Science, UCD Conway Institute, University College Dublin, Ireland.
¹⁵ Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
¹⁶ Center for Global Health, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA.

PMID: 37839622
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcpo.2023.100448

Abstract

2023 marks the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, which led peace in Northern Ireland. As well as its impact on peace and reconciliation, the Good Friday Agreement has also had a lasting positive impact on cancer research and cancer care across the island of Ireland. Pursuant to the Good Friday Agreement, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed between the respective Departments of Health in Ireland, Northern Ireland and the US National Cancer Institute (NCI), giving rise to the Ireland - Northern Ireland - National Cancer Institute Cancer Consortium, an unparalleled tripartite agreement designed to nurture and develop linkages between cancer researchers, physicians and allied healthcare professionals across Ireland, Northern Ireland and the US, delivering world class research and better care for cancer patients on the island of Ireland and driving research and innovation in the US.

Keywords: Cancer Consortium; Cancer research impact; Good Friday Agreement; Health diplomacy.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Diplomacy*
Health Personnel
Humans
Neoplasms* / epidemiology
Northern Ireland / epidemiology
Physicians*