• undiagnosed high-risk people,
• diagnosed patients,
• the medical and nursing professions,
• governments,
• International Organisations,
• the mass media,
• traditional and community leaders,
• religious Organisations and charities,

...among others.

For the first year of operation (2008), ACO will concentrate on establishing itself as the principal African-initiated, African-led and managed NGO interested and focused on cancer-awareness and reduction strategies for Africa.

This will be a year of internal capacity building for the Organisation, for recruiting needed staff and volunteers, and for establishing the internal planning, operational and working procedures of the Organisation. The ACO workload in year one will include:

1) establishing linkages with other sister and fraternal organizations with a similar mandate around the world;

2) introducing itself to the donor community, the mass media, government agencies and the medical and pharmaceutical industries in particular;

3) and identifying partners and projects based on which to prepare to launch its first initiatives on the African continent (from Ghana in West Africa).

In the second year, ACO plans to select five most prevalent cancers in Africa as its main focus. ACO will target individuals at high risk of cancer who by virtue of their family histories, genetic disposition or lifestyles constitute the highest risk group, as well as the governmental, medical, pharmaceutical, nursing and the ancillary professions and institutions involved in the care of cancer patients. ACO will also initiate and support cancer registry programmes in the selected countries.

Educating and creating awareness about the dangers of cancer, encouraging health checks and healthy lifestyles that help reduce the risk of cancer. The ACO will achieve this through our dedicated staff and volunteers with the assistance of the local government authorities, media, community and religious Organisations.

In the third year, the ACO will enter additional regions in Africa and develop more communication materials and programmes in major African languages. ACO will improve collaboration with partner stakeholders, develop more comprehensive and interactive multi-media programmes use more local personnel as well as other information and communication technologies - especially telephones and the internet.

In Short...
Africa Cancer Organisation was formed purposely to provide cancer education and information to the African continent as well as its citizens abroad. The ACO will over time target all Africans, especially high-risk potential sufferers and actual patients amongst the poor, uneducated and the vulnerable. ACO will commence it operations from its London headquarters and systematically roll-out to African countries based on the independent assessment of a variety factors such as levels of need, awareness and the state of health care system in each country.