29 July 2010 (PDF Version)

On October 13 & 14th, 2010, the European Cancer Patient Coalition (ECPC) will be holding a two day Summit titled "ECPC Cancer Summit: Making the Cancer Partnership Work" in Brussels. The focus of the ECPC Summit will be the activities deriving from the "European Partnership for Action Against Cancer" at the European level. The conference aims to create grass-roots momentum for collaboration of all stakeholders in tackling cancer in tandem with cancer patients which should be at the centre of these actions.

The "European Partnership for Action Against Cancer" was launched by the EU Commission in September 2009. At the launch of the event, the former Commissioner of Health, Androulla Vassiliou, stated that the EU 'never tried anything like this at European level before, and we are all going to learn progressively as the Partnership develops and evolves'. The new Commissioner of Health, John Dalli, is committed to take the Partnership forward, following his motto 'patients first'.

Over the years, ECPC has campaigned  at the national and European level for recommendations and declarations to support cancer patients, as it is presently doing with the support of over 60 Members of the European Parliament through the ‘Forum Against Cancer in Europe’ (FACE, http://www.forumagainstcancer.eu). It continues to call upon all Member States to develop and implement fully comprehensive cancer policies or plans.

The ECPC Summit's agenda reflects the multi-level structure of the European Cancer Partnership that will cover numerous Work Packages and involves stakeholders from across the cancer spectrum. It will address issues such as the framework for identifying and sharing information, the need for improved cancer research, capacity and expertise in cancer prevention and control, and providing a platform to strike a balance between a policy for excellence and a policy for cohesion.

This ECPC Summit will bring together doctors, researchers, parliamentarians, patients’ organizations, Member States' representatives and Commissioners such as Commissioner John Dalli. The ECPC Summit will be instrumental in creating a dialogue and disseminating information about the planned actions within the European Cancer Partnership. It will address the ‘unmet needs' for collaborative actions to reduce the incidence and mortality rates for cancer patients. All stakeholders are called to discuss the key issues in the roadmap of the European Cancer Partnership that will start its project work in 2011. Cooperation of all these stakeholders is at the core of the ECPC Summit, with the cancer patient being the link to achieve the overall interests of the European Cancer Partnership.

The ECPC Summit reflects a policy dialogue that stresses broad participation from all interested parties, and the generation of experience-based know-how. It will reflect issues of all age groups, including a session titled 'Investing in our Future: Young People in the Partnership'. It will provide the policy space in which partnerships can be formed, which, in turn will lead to a more effective mechanism to support cancer patients during the life-cycle of the European Cancer Partnership.

Every session has a patient participant from a cancer patient organization which recognizes the bottom-up dynamics that has shaped the European Cancer Partnerships' actions for cancer patients. It reflects ECPC's motto "Nothing about us without us!" in a sense that the cancer patient should be a central player in guiding and carrying out EU cancer initiatives. It highlights the fact that through partnerships, decision making must incorporate the expertise and insight of cancer patients positioned all along the chains of health policy. Furthermore, it recognizes that cancer patients working in equal partnership with the various stakeholders can create value for European citizens with and without cancer.

The ECPC Summit, inspired by the European Cancer Partnership, will create momentum for the work of the European Cancer Partnership and will create a momentum of action that is urgently needed by cancer patients, beyond the legal and political battles which have entangled other health policy initiatives.

With the ECPC Summit, ECPC is confident to provide the platform for important and necessary collaboration between all stakeholders, to improve the situation for all cancer patients across Europe and to lay the foundation for the implementation of the European Partnership for Action against Cancer.

The “ECPC Cancer Summit: Making the Cancer Partnership work” has received funding from the European Union, in the framework of the Public Health Programme, and is further supported by unrestricted educational grants from the private sector, e.g. to provide travel grants to patient groups from across Europe to attend the Summit.

Registration for the ECPC Cancer Summit is now open. More information can be found here: http://www.ecpc-online.org/summit2010

About ECPC

Established in 2003, The European Cancer Patient Coalition (ECPC) is the voice of the European cancer patient community, uniquely representing the interests of all cancer patient groups from the major to the rarer cancers. It has been established to represent the views of cancer patients in the European healthcare debate and to provide a forum for European cancer patients to exchange information and share best practice experiences.

ECPC represents over 300 patients’ organizations across Europe. ECPC is run and governed by patients. It is registered as a non-profit association in the Netherlands. During the last legislative period, ECPC has already provided the Members of the European Parliament with a platform to discuss issues of relevance and to communicate to their constituents. It has continued this fruitful dialogue with the launch of the Forum Against Cancer Europe (FACE).

ECPC receives funding in the forms of EU grants, donations and unrestricted corporate grants, following strict transparency policies.

Further information about ECPC can be found at http://www.ecpc-online.org and http://www.forumagainstcancer.eu

About the European Partnership for Action against Cancer

The European Partnership for Action Against Cancer was initiated by the EU Commission in September 2009 with the support of a number of stakeholders like ECPC, bringing together the Commission, Member States and their Ministries of Health, patient organisations, health professionals, scientists, private industry and civil society. It has embarked on an ambitious agenda of a pan-European collaborative effort to tackle cancer more evenly and effectively across the EU.

Further information can be found at http://www.ecpc-online.org/health-in-eu/cancer-partnership.html

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