APPENDIX 108
Memorandum from World Cancer Research
Fund International
WORLD CANCER
RESEARCH FUND
INTERNATIONAL
The World Cancer Research Fund global network
comprises WCRF International and its member organisations—national
charities based in different countries (in the USA—AICR;
in the UK—WCRF UK; in the Netherlands—WCRF NL; in
Germany—WCRF DE; and in Hong Kong—WCRF HK). The WCRF
global network has the unique role of translating scientific data
into global health recommendations. These health recommendations
not only inform the public on cancer prevention, but they also
help to set the agenda for future cancer research and national
health policies.
BACKGROUND
In 1997, WCRF (World Cancer Research Fund) and
its affiliate in the USA, AICR (American Institute for Cancer
Research) jointly published the ground breaking report, Food,
Nutrition and the Prevention of Cancer: a global perspective.
It remains the most authoritative report in its field. Over 30,000
copies each of the report and of its summary have been produced,
distributed and sold worldwide.
The report or its summary have been translated
or adapted for a number of regions and countries, including Latin
America, China, Japan, India, Germany, France, Italy and the Asia-Pacific
region, by authoritative external organisations. It is also used
as the basis of the education programmes of the WCRF global network
in the USA, the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, China (Hong Kong)
and France, which distribute tens of millions of education brochures
and newsletters each year.
The first report, which remains current, is
used by governments and official agencies to help shape international
and national policies on the prevention and control of cancer;
by research scientists to guide their work; by teachers in universities
and research centres; by expert organisations concerned not only
with the prevention of cancer, but also with prevention of chronic
and other diseases; by health professionals; and by community
groups, families and individuals, and the media. It is widely
cited in the academic and professional literature, and at international
scientific conferences, and continues to set the agenda in its
field.
Responsibility for the 1997 report, its conclusions
and recommendations, was taken by a panel of scientists convened
by WCRF and AICR and chaired by Professor John Potter. Panel members
came from Africa, India, China, Japan and Latin America, as well
as from Europe and the USA. Official observers came from the World
Health Organisation (WHO), WHO International Agency for Research
on Cancer (IARC) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of
the United Nations (FAO). The Panel was supported by a WCRF Secretariat,
and held a series of meetings between 1993 and 1997.
SECOND EXPERT
REPORT—CURRENT
PROJECT
WCRF International has now begun the process
of creating, publishing and disseminating a new report to be published
jointly by WCRF and AICR in 2006. Thus, WCRF International has
invited a new panel of scientists, with observers from the United
Nations and other international agencies, to create a second report
on food, nutrition and also physical activity, and the prevention
of cancer. The bulk of the work for this report will be carried
out by academic institutions located in the USA, the UK and continental
Europe. The second report will include all the key features of
the 1997 report. As indicated in its mission, it will also incorporate
all relevant developments in research science and methods of assessing
scientific evidence, and in public policy and communications that
have taken place since the mid 1990s.
WCRF'S OBSERVATIONS
ABOUT ACCESS
TO SCIENTIFIC
PUBLICATIONS
Our 1997 report reviewed approximately 4500
journal articles and this number is expected to be about three
times that for the 2006 report. The financial cost of remaining
within the copyright law is going to be extremely high for this
project, especially since such a vast amount of literature will
be reviewed.
If the copyright for scientific publications
were restricted to just one year, it would mean that the historical
literature would be available for systematic review in an all-
encompassing project of this kind, without the crippling financial
burden that currently exists.
Finally, the Government should consider encouraging
government-funded projects to publish their results in open access
journals. This is especially important for medical research where
patients freely give information about themselves to researchers
in the belief that that information will be made freely available
to other researchers.
February 2004
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