What can Personalised Medicine offer cancer patients and how can Personalised Medicines be integrated into healthcare provision in Europe? These were the two central questions posed at the workshop entitled “‘Realising the potential of Personalised Medicine in oncology, key steps for patient access’ on November 23rd in the European Parliament. The workshop was jointly organised by the European Cancer Patient Coalition (ECPC) and the Organisation of European Cancer Institutes (OECI). The establishment of this cooperation marks an important step forward in the collaboration of health professionals and the patient community. The event was hosted by the Members of the European Parliament Nessa Childers and Petru Luhan.

ECPC has launched a collaborative effort, involving health and youth stakeholders, to involve young people in communicating health messages more effectively. Young people, caught between 'child' and 'adult', are often overlooked as a separate category when developing health policies, but this is the age in which health behaviours are set for life. Smoking, diet, exercise - the patterns established between 15 and 25 will have health impacts for the rest of our lives. In order to make informed decisions, young people have a basic and essential right to clear and accessible information, breaking down scientific evidence to a comprehensible level without being patronising or paternalistic.

One Kiss One Voice: Youth Congress for Health, taking place in Brussels on March 22-23 2012, invites young delegates from across Europe to discuss what information they want to have access to, and how they want to receive this. They will formulate 'key messages' for those people making policies and developing health awareness information targeted at young people. These key messages will then be formulated into a guide which will be distributed to MEPs, Commission Officials, national health ministries and ministers as well as regional health authorities. Young people will be able to discuss their ideas informally, with input from stakeholders and MEPs.