September 24, 2008 | Read Time: 1 minute
Lance Armstrong told participants at the Clinton Global Initiative that he is returning to professional cycling to promote global efforts to prevent and treat cancer.
“By racing the bicycle all over the world is the best way to promote this initiative; it’s the best way to get the word out,” he said, noting that more people every year are killed worldwide by cancer than by AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis combined.
Mr. Armstrong, who is a cancer survivor himself, has raised millions of dollars in donations for cancer research and other efforts by selling yellow Livestrong bracelets, though his charitable work has focused on the United States.
The athlete said that he could not sit by while, for example, the leading cause of death among young girls in Africa is cervical cancer, for which a vaccine exists.
“If we are not applying the medicine that we have to the people who need it the most, than we are failing morally and ethically,” he said. “That must change.”
Mr. Armstrong said his nonprofit organization and the American Cancer Society will hold an international meeting on cancer in Paris next July to gather world leaders to discuss the disease. The event will be coincide with Mr. Armstrong’s completion of the Tour de France.
“I can’t guarantee an 8th tour victory, but I can guarantee the Livestrong message will touch all continents of our society,” the cyclist said.
