CEOs Against Cancer of Missouri Annual Meeting Highlights

Kansas State University Men’s Basketball Coach Bruce Weber headlined the third annual CEOs Against Cancer of Missouri Annual Meeting in St. Louis last week.  Coach Weber encouraged more than 50 CEOs and their liaisons to get involved in the fight against cancer through the Society’s Coaches vs. Cancer program. “Together we can do wonders,” he said.

Warner Baxter, CEO of Ameren Missouri and George Paz, CEO of Express Scripts; chair/co-chair of the CEOs Against Cancer of Missouri chapter called the meeting to order and led several discussions relating to chapter business.  Discussions included the American Cancer Society’s National Corporate Impact conference would be coming to St. Louis in 2014 and chaired by Chancellor Mark Wrighton, Washington University and co-chaired by Dennis Muilenburg, Boeing Defense, Space, and Security.   The conference was just held in Colorado last week.  Other announcements included the NFL’s partnership with the Society around the Crucial Catch campaign.  Kevin Demoff, St. Louis Rams announced that the St. Louis Rams will pledge the American Cancer Society $1,000 per catch made during the October 6 Crucial Catch game.

UMB Bank was also recognized at the meeting as the first company in St. Louis to receive the CEO Cancer Gold Standard. The Gold Standard recognizes their efforts to reduce the risk of cancer for their employees and covered family members by promoting healthy lifestyle choices, encouraging early detection through cancer screenings, and ensuring access to quality treatment.

Students from the University of Missouri’s Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity attended the meeting to present the American Cancer Society with a check for $123,000 from a Rock-A-Thon fundraiser they held recently. 

Annual Meeting recap notes were sent out to all CEO members and their liaisons.   The next Annual Meeting will be held on January 24th, 2014 at Centene’s Headquarters in Clayton, Missouri.

Your American Cancer Society at the 15th Annual World Conference on Tobacco OR Health

Society Board Chair Dr. Cynthia LeBlanc, Society CEO Dr. John Seffrin, and Society Board President Dr. Phil Evans at the World Conference on Tobacco OR Health in Singapore

The Society is participating in the 15th World Conference on Tobacco OR Health (WCTOH) being held in Singapore from March 20-24, 2012. The WCTOH is a premier international conference on tobacco control and held once every three years. This conference attracts more than 2,000 academicians, health professionals, non-government organizations, media, and public officials from more than 100 countries.

As a leading sponsor of this conference, the Society will deliver many presentations and host several key events. Society President Dr. Phil Evans, Chair Cynthia LeBlanc, CEO Dr. John Seffrin, and other Society experts will speak about tobacco economics, control policies, dependence, and treatment.

The American Cancer Society and World Lung Foundation will unveil the 4th edition of the Tobacco Atlas in Singapore on Wednesday, March 21. The Atlas shows consumer-friendly graphics and details of the tobacco epidemic and progress made in tobacco control and the latest products and tactics being deployed by the increasingly profitable tobacco industry – such as the use of new media, aggressive development of smokeless products, and tactics to attract youth and women. For more information visit TobaccoAtlas.org and follow #TobaccoAtlas on Twitter.

The Society will recognize nine tobacco control experts at the 2012 Luther L. Terry Awards for Exemplary Leadership in Tobacco Control ceremony on Wednesday, March 21. The awards recognize outstanding global achievement in the field of tobacco control in six categories: outstanding individual leadership, outstanding organization, outstanding research contribution, exemplary leadership by a government ministry, distinguished career, and outstanding community service. Learn more about the nine award recipients at www.cancer.org/lutherterry.

On Friday, March 23, the Society will host a session on the Africa Tobacco Control Consortium (ATCC) to give attendees an overview of the unique model of this consortium and progress made to date on this five-year program led by the Society and funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Dr. Howard Koh, Assistant Secretary for Health at the US Department of Health and Human Services, will participate in a Plenary on the UN High-level Meeting on Noncomunicable Diseases organized by the American Cancer Society and the World Health Organization on Friday, March 23.  That evening, the Society will host a dinner symposium on the future of tobacco control featuring Dr. Koh, Dr. Seffrin, and honorable distinguished tobacco control advocate Dr. Nigel Gray of Australia.