What is CCAF?
The Cancer Clinician Advocacy Forum (CCAF) is a network of cancer care clinicians from across Canada—including pharmacists, nurses, and physicians—who are committed to improving care for patients. Together, they aim to address public policy issues that impact the quality, accessibility, and outcomes of cancer care.
CCAF emerged out of a two-day Forum in Toronto in September 2023, which resulted in a formal report being published in Current Oncology in February 2024. This report highlights the frustration clinicians experience due to lengthy delays in the approval and funding of optimal technologies and therapies for their patients.
Vision
A future where optimal cancer care is rapidly and equitably accessible to all Canadians.
Mission
To amplify and strengthen the voice of cancer clinicians in advocating for reforms to enhance and expedite patient access to optimal cancer care across Canada.
Our Goals
Barriers and Challenges
Cancer clinicians across Canada are facing challenges and barriers to providing optimal cancer care for their patients:
This can result in a lengthy path to diagnosis and increased suffering, with patients being diagnosed in later stage disease when cancer is harder to treat effectively.
Cancer clinicians face unacceptable delays and restrictions when trying to access optimal technologies and therapies to treat their patients.
High degrees of variability exist across provinces in Canada’s readiness for a future of genomic medicine.
We are motivated to improve care for our patients by:
Uniting and strengthening the voice of cancer clinicians across Canada in partnership with patients to address shared public policy issues
Raising awareness with decision makers of the challenges and barriers that cancer clinicians face in trying to provide optimal care for patients and recommending actionable solutions
These are our priority areas:
Expand access to diagnostic testing, including molecular genetics testing
Ensure faster, more equitable access to new cancer therapies
Improve efficiencies in patient care and address human resource constraints
Our Leadership
Steering Committee Members:
Advocacy
National NewsWatch op-ed: Three things Canada’s health ministers could do to help Canadians with cancer
CDA-AMC’s Consultation on Clinician Group Input into Drug Reimbursement Review Process
The Evan Bray Show interview with Dr. Mita Manna
Pauline Chan, CTV Health Reporter, Toronto: Interviewed Dr. Sehdev.
CTV News Saskatoon: Reporter John Flatters interviewed Dr. Manna
CBC’s Saskatoon Morning Radio Show: Interviewed Dr. Manna
Saskatoon StarPhoenix: New cancer clinician forum targets delays in Sask. cancer treatment
Canadian cancer clinicians call for urgent, vital improvements to cancer care
CCAF Publication - Access to Oncology Medicines in Canada: Consensus Forum for Recommendations for Improvement, Current Oncology, 2024
CCAF is funded through a partnership with the CanCertainty Coalition – the united voice of more than 35 Canadian patient groups, cancer health charities and caregiver organizations working with oncologists and cancer care professionals to improve the affordability and accessibility of cancer treatment. CanCertainty’s funding is supported by in-kind collaboration and support from more than 35 partner organizations and corporate donations, support from physician and healthcare organizations, and funding from Kidney Cancer Canada. Corporate supporters on the CCAF project include unrestricted financial contributions from Merck Canada, Eli Lilly Canada, Novartis Canada, AbbVie Canada, Gilead Canada, AstraZeneca Canada, Pfizer Canada and Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine Canada. CCAF and its partner CanCertainty only accept corporate support under the terms of the Corporate transparency and code of conduct of Kidney Cancer Canada – Cancer du Rein Canada which can be found here: https://www.kidneycancercanada.ca/about-us/kidney-cancer-canada-cancer-du-rein-canada-code-of-conduct-governing-corporate-funding/.