Friends of IARC

"The work of IARC is invaluable – essential – in tackling the huge global cancer epidemic. IARC addresses all aspects of cancer, collecting and collating comparative data on prevention, genetics, treatment, and much more. I am particularly impressed with the focus in my own field of cancer prevention, especially tobacco control."

Dr Judith Mackay is a medical doctor. She has been based in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region since 1967, and has worked in tobacco control since 1984. She is Senior Policy Advisor to the World Health Organization (WHO), Senior Advisor to Vital Strategies/Bloomberg Initiative, and Director of the Asian Consultancy on Tobacco Control. 

Dr Mackay has authored 12 highly influential health atlases, and she has received many international awards, including the WHO Commemorative Medal, the Time 100 Award, and the British Medical Journal Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2015 she received an honorary degree, Doctor of Social Sciences honoris causa, from Hong Kong Shue Yan University. In 2016 she received an honorary degree, Doctor honoris causa, from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. She has been named as one of the three most dangerous people in the world by the tobacco industry.