This ten year impact assessment evaluated the program using qualitative and quantitative data, including participant surveys, outcomes from self-identified priority projects, and interviews with 17 alumni and stakeholders.
From 2014-2023, the ILTP trained 450 participants from 97 countries and territories through 13 program deliveries, including nine in-person, and four delivered online during the COVID-19 pandemic. The program contributed to documented cancer and NCD law and policy change in 30 countries. Tobacco control laws and regulations were the most common focus, alongside support for the defence of legal challenges to cancer and NCD laws in five countries and legal action in one country to recover health care costs from the tobacco industry.
The program also generated broader impacts that extended beyond individual projects. These included building international networks that support legal action on cancer and NCDs, empowering participants to become leaders and advocates for change, and contributing to wider policy developments, including regional ripple effects from new laws and regulations.
At a time of increasing constraints on health funding, this study highlights the value of law as an underused and cost-effective tool for preventing and controlling cancer and NCDs. The findings demonstrate the importance of investing in long-term capacity building and leadership development to achieve policy change and sustain a global community of skilled, confident and committed advocates for action on NCDs.