KCCure is a proud member of the International Kidney Cancer Coalition (IKCC), an independent international network of patient organisations that focus on kidney cancer. Learn more about Marta Szulc, IKCC’s new Executive Director.
Tell us about your new role and a little bit about the mission of the IKCC.
I was appointed at the beginning of February as the Executive Director of IKCC to pursue the organisation’s mission of reducing the burden of kidney cancer worldwide through initiatives and collaboration with Affiliate Organisations, healthcare professionals and the global kidney cancer community.
What brought you into advocacy?
The conviction that the world can be changed for the better and that we can only do it if we are doing it together.
What are you most excited about in terms of global outlook for kidney cancer patients?
I believe we are living in times of change, a true change of paradigm. In my opinion, we are currently rethinking many truths and ways of looking at the world – whether it is capitalism, growth, fossil fuels, diversity, inclusion, and many other things. On the one hand, it brings the feeling of agency, on the other – the burden of responsibility.
This change of paradigm also applies in my opinion to kidney cancer patients, in the sense that even though it is rare cancer, it does not mean it is any less significant or that the lives of the people impacted by it are any less important.
You do not have to be the biggest, most popular, or common, to matter and to make a difference. Kidney cancer patients provide yet a different perspective to the discussion of patient treatment, patient rights, quality of life, and the value of life in general. And this perspective deserves to be heard loud and clear.
