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02 Oct 2009
EU Commission successfully launches the European Partnership for Action Against Cancer
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 are 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 December 2009 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
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European Cancer Patient Coalition (ECPC)
E-Mail:
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http://www.ecpc-online.org
ECPC Office address: Am Rothenanger 1b, 85521 Riemerling, Germany
Lynn Faulds Wood
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Denis Horgan
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Jan Geissler
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21% United States
14% United Kingdom
8% Germany
6% Unknown
5% Belgium
4% Netherlands
4% Romania
3% South Africa
3% Switzerland
2% India
