Activity

Activity Description

The National Cancer Policy Forum provides a continuous focus on cancer policy at the Institute of Medicine (IOM). IOM forums are designed to allow government, industry, academic, and other representatives to meet, confer, and plan on subject areas of mutual interest. The objectives of the Forum are to identify emerging high priority policy issues in the nation’s effort to combat cancer and to examine those issues through convening activities that promote discussion about potential opportunities for action. These activities inform stakeholders about critical policy issues through published reports, and often provide input for planning formal IOM consensus committee studies.

The IOM established the Forum, effective May 1, 2005, to succeed the National Cancer Policy Board (1997-2005, the Board).  During the eight years of its life, the Board brought together leaders from the cancer community to identify and conduct studies and other activities contributing to cancer research, prevention, treatment, and public awareness.  The combination of multi-disciplinary expertise (basic, clinical, and public health scientists, consumers, and advocates) and resources (grants from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as well as smaller contributions from private sector organizations) allowed the Board to produce a remarkably original and diverse body of work contributing to improvements in knowledge and public policy.   

The National Cancer Policy Forum continues to provide a focus within the National Academies for the consideration of issues in science, clinical medicine, public health, and public policy relevant to the goals of preventing, palliating, and curing cancer. The Forum builds upon the work of the Board and enjoys a closer working relationship with its federal and non-federal sponsors. As a forum rather than a board, sponsors are full members with the academic, consumer, and policy community members. They bring ideas and requests to the deliberations and have the advantage of playing an active part in the discussions. Governmental sponsors represented on the Forum include the NCI, CDC, and FDA, and non-governmental sponsors include the American Association for Cancer Research, the American Cancer Society, the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the Association of American Cancer Institutes, Bristol-Myers Squibb, C-Change, the CEO Roundtable on Cancer, Novartis, and the Oncology Nursing Society. Additional distinguished experts from the cancer community are also appointed as members to serve three-year terms.  The Forum reports to the Director of the IOM Board on Health Care Services (Roger Herdman, MD).

The Forum enables all members to be full participants in identifying and debating critical policy issues in cancer care and research, and in examining potential opportunities for actions. These convening activities result in published reports that are available to the public and may provide input to planning formal IOM consensus committee studies. Ideas for committee studies that emerge from the Forum’s deliberations are handed off to an appropriate ad hoc committee appointed by IOM. The studies are conducted by NCPF staff and the committees often include one or more members of the Forum. Forum sponsors often actively pursue activities to facilitate the implementation of recommendations made in these consensus reports, as well as suggestions put forth in Forum workshops.