EU Commission successfully launches
the European Partnership for Action Against Cancer
Brussels, 29 Sept 2009
On 29 September 2009, more than 300 cancer organisations,
patients and cancer survivors, health professionals, researchers,
health authorities and health ministers gathered in Brussels to mark
the official launch of the "European Partnership for Action
Against Cancer". During the formation of the Cancer
Partnership, ECPC was invited as a key stakeholder, and actively
participated in preparatory meetings and workshops.
The European Partnership for Action Against Cancer is
distinctive due to the fact that its brings together not only the
Member States and their Ministries of Health, but also patient
organisations, health professionals, scientists, private industry
and civil society - everyone who shares our objective of a
Partnership against cancer. In this way, the initiative is
multi-professional, multi-disciplinary and inclusive.
The launch event of the European Partnership for Action Against
Cancer was opened by the President of the European Commission
José Manuel Barroso and hosted by Health Commissioner
Androulla Vassiliou. This demonstrates the commitment and the
political importance that the EU has attached to cancer. Manuel
Borroso specifically highlighted rare cancers: "Take rare
cancers for example. Only a handful of specialist centres exist for
such cancers in the whole of Europe. So we are already putting in
place European reference networks, so that everyone can have access
to that expertise." EU Research Commissioner Janez
Potočnik
highlighted the importance of research by stating that "research
against cancer is part of the priorities of the Framework Programme
7 (FP7). The Partnership shows that we want to 'step up' our efforts
to improve EU-wide coordination within this field, in line with the
European Research Area. Joining forces and resources in research
will make us more efficient". The Commissioner for Health
Androulla Vassilliou highlighted the human factor of the Partnership
by stating that "this Partnership is about courage and
commitment: the courage to speak openly about cancer, and the
commitment to work together, to trust each other and to share
expertise.''
ECPC played a very active role in the launch of the Cancer
Partnership. On behalf of ECPC, President Lynn Faulds
Wood was invited to facilitate the panel discussion titled 'The
Way Forward'. It was constituted by experts and politicians, giving
the audience the opportunity for questions and answers as well as
stating their support to the idea of the Partnership. Mr. Peterle
MEP, the Co-Chair of MEPs Against Cancer (MAC), and Jolanta Kwaśniewska
(Poland), ECPC Patron and former First Lady of Poland, provided
their experience and gave the example of ECPC efforts and the MAC
initiative as evidence of an partnership in action at the European
level.
Stories of Cancer Survivors: Patients at
the Center of the Partnership
Personal stories were heard from cancer survivors from across
the EU to give cancer a face. In the preparatory phase of the
Partnership launch event, Hildrun Sundseth, ECPC's former Director
of EU Policy, suggested cancer survivors from the ECPC Membership
from all 27 EU Member States to the EU Commission. Many of them,
including our ECPC Board Members Heide Preuß and Tom van der Wal,
were then asked to tell their story, experiences, hopes and
aspirations (see
link, scroll down to Testimonials, and then click on small
European map). Five testimonies were shown in a video "'Life
for Living" (see
here).
The fact that stories of cancer patients from the ECPC Membership
were prominently shown at the event, placed the patient at the
center of the Partnership. It was commonly understood that the
patient community will have a strong voice in the initiative. ECPC
will continue to work closely with its membership to contribute
throughout the life-cycle of the Partnership, in order that
effective actions against cancer are taken.
Goals and Areas of the Cancer Partnership
The goals of the Cancer Partnership is two-fold:
- To help all EU countries tackle cancer more evenly and
effectively by sharing information, resources, best practice and
expertise
- To avoid fragmented and duplicated effort and maximise the
limited resources available - by coordinating action on cancer
involving member countries, scientific experts, patient
organisations and other key stakeholders.
The four pillars of the Cancer Partnership are:
- Cancer information;
- Early detection and health promotion;
- Cancer research and
- Learning from best practice.
In terms of prevention, the Partnership aims to implement
healthy lifestyle, early detection and providing high-quality,
controlled breast, cervical and colorectal cancer screening for all
EU citizens. By identifying, sharing and applying best
practice, the Partnership hopes to encourage a multidisciplinary,
comprehensive approach to cancer-related healthcare and ensure more
effective care and a better quality of life for cancer patients. The
Partnership will hope to coordinate all areas of cancer research
in the EU, from all funding sources, to identify discrepancies,
obstacles and research gaps and avoid duplicating research. By collecting
accurate and comparable information and data, the partnership
will enable effective planning and monitoring of cancer strategies
throughout all the Member States.
By the end of the Partnership, the objective is for all EU Member
States to have integrated cancer plans. The long-term aim set out by
the Commission Communication is to reduce cancer by 15% by 2020.
The way forward
In order to take the European Partnership for Action Against
Cancer forward, the Commission is now preparing a meeting in
November where representatives from EU Member States, international
organisations, experts and other stakeholders will be invited.
Further reading
Contact details
For further information, please contact the ECPC Office at info@ecpc-online.org
European Cancer Patient Coalition (ECPC)
E-Mail: info@ecpc-online.org
http://www.ecpc-online.org
ECPC Office address: Am Rothenanger 1b, 85521 Riemerling, Germany
Lynn Faulds Wood
ECPC President
lynn.fauldswood@ecpc-online.org
Denis Horgan
ECPC Political Affairs Manager
denis.horgan@ecpc-online.org
Jan Geissler
ECPC Director
jan.geissler@ecpc-online.org
|
