Opening the Forum in Hong Kong: honesty, partnership and patient voices

The World Bladder Cancer Patient Forum 2026 opened today in Hong Kong, the first time our Forum has been held in Asia. Advocates travelled from Senegal, Kenya, Malawi, Colombia, Argentina, Japan, India, Singapore, Taiwan, Australia, Canada, South Africa and across Europe to be in the room together. The keynote session brought together Lori Funk Cirefice, President of the World Bladder Cancer Patient Coalition (WBCPC) and of Cancer Vessie France, and Dr Ka-On Lam, Board Member of the Hong Kong Anti-Cancer Society, our local host.

Marking just over a year as President, Lori Funk Cirefice spoke honestly about what a year of listening to our 17 member organisations had taught her. Some are run by one determined person with a laptop at the kitchen table, others have staff, funding and a permanent seat at the national table. What she had not expected was how consistently the same problems surface in every health system represented in the room: the cost of treatment, diagnosis coming too late, continence issues that patients are rarely prepared for, the embarrassment that stops people mentioning blood in their urine to a doctor, and the fact that one in four people diagnosed with bladder cancer is a woman, still diagnosed later than men in 2026.

She also set out what WBCPC achieved over the past year: establishing our Scientific Advisory Board, chaired by Professor Ashish Kamat, and launching a new vision, mission and strategy. During Bladder Cancer Awareness Month, our campaign reached more than 12.5 million people, our resources were used in 31 languages, and Spot the Drop was played more than 3,400 times in 16 languages. None of it, she said, has closed the care gap yet: bladder cancer remains unrecognised and underprioritised in many parts of the world, which is exactly why the two days are structured as they are, with Advocates Day reserved for our members and Public Day opening the conversation to patients, carers, clinicians, researchers and policymakers.

Welcoming the Forum to Hong Kong, Dr Ka-On Lam said he had felt more joy and more respect stepping onto this stage than at any patient advocacy meeting he had attended. Founded in 1963, the Hong Kong Anti-Cancer Society shares WBCPC’s conviction that patients are partners rather than passive recipients of treatment. “Patients bring knowledge that cannot be found in a textbook alone,” he said, pointing to the anxiety before a scan, the fatigue after treatment and the cost of keeping daily life going through repeated appointments. He spoke too of the load carried by carers, who take on coordinating appointments and offering emotional support the moment a diagnosis arrives, with no preparation for the role.

Wherever patients live, He said, what they want is the same: clear and trusted information, timely diagnosis, access to appropriate treatment, practical and emotional support, and dignity. No single organisation can deliver all of that alone. Her closing words went directly to the patients, survivors and carers in the room: “Your presence here is powerful. Your stories matter. Your questions matter. Your courage matters.” The value of this Forum, he added, will not be measured by what happens during the meeting, but by what advocates take back to their own communities.

Find the full programme on our Forum page.