Last updated: 6-Jul-2011
The Cancer Prevention Institute of Canada was established as a response to a need. There is no Canadian organization that produces comprehensive evidence-based reviews of factors causing the major cancers, or that synthesizes the effect of global efforts to target these factors. Before governments at all levels, as well as NGOs and others, can act, the evidence must be compiled in an unbiased manner, and presented in a user-friendly format. This information review and program synthesis is the initial core mandate of the Institute.
The Institute will also be a useful tool in developing and implementing pilot programs in selected test populations, such as a single province, with the goal of defining the most cost-effective methodologies to recommend to governments and interested parties. For instance, a Canadian province with a single system of cancer care and a single accurate registry of all cancer cases is globally a very rare and powerful laboratory in which to verify intervention programs. Because of a single provider system of cancer care delivery in each province, backed up by excellent population-based data, Canadian provinces are, in the North American context, UNIQUELY placed to develop evidence-based programs. Proven interventions can be scaled up or down for other Canadian provinces, and other globally distributed jurisdictions.
The Institute will bring together scientists and application experts to form a cancer prevention knowledge network. These experts, the Scientific Advisory Board, will be the key to developing a nationally relevant, evidence-based information base that will be essential for cost effective interventions. A National Advisory Council composed of senior leaders reflecting Canada’s geography and systems, will provide strategic guidance to the Institute.