In between trips around the globe, they have hosted dozens of tumor registrars from home and abroad at programs conducted on the Emory campus. The consortium promotes cancer surveillance across borders, and its grantors give preferential support to Middle East researchers who seek collaborators from neighboring countries. They serve as consultants to health ministries on several continents, offering advice on the establishment of tumor registries and surveillance systems or the enhancement of existing registries. They argue for the value of cancer registration data in allocating health resources and developing effective cancer control programs. Wherever they go, whether to China, India, or Egypt, Young and Roffers emphasize the necessity of collecting accurate, detailed information on cancer cases.
Data are useful only if universally consistent, they say.
The objectives of collecting and analyzing cancer statistics are to identify trends, notice unusual patterns and pinpoint their causes, and direct prevention efforts where they are needed. The majority of the programs presented by Young and Roffers cover such general cancer registry information. However, in a few courses, they target pediatric cancer registrars, and one course covers epidemiology for the cancer registrar. In the latter course, registrars learn what to do with all the statistics they've collected. In fact, the data they collect will be vital for authoritative cancer information in the future, even making its way into Cancer Incidence in Five Continents.