CCI Europe, SIOP Europe and PanCare (the European organisations representing healthcare professionals, childhood cancer parent and patient groups, and the childhood cancer survivorship community, respectively) welcome Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan marking the beginning of a new era in cancer prevention and care.

The European childhood cancer community is delighted that childhood cancer is now under the spotlight in the EU Cancer Plan. Our community including paediatric haemato-oncologists, parents, patients, and survivors is now looking forward to shaping the implementation of these proposals building on existing projects and structures in the community.

There are indeed high hopes for the much-awaited ‘Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan’ – one of the flagship policies the European Commission. Our community was honoured to give input during the consultation process to help shape this plan, contributing over 200 individual stakeholder responses to the public consultation.  We are therefore very pleased that the Commission has heard the messages and has dedicated an entire section to childhood cancer in the breakthrough ‘Helping Children with Cancer Initiative’.

Paediatric cancers are all rare with age specific characteristics. Beyond the age of one, cancer is still the first cause of death by disease.  Every year in Europe, more than 6,000 young patients are dying, and 20,000 children are newly diagnosed with cancer. There are important differences between childhood and adult cancers in terms of the type of cancer, how it is diagnosed and how it is treated.

Based on the four key pillars (prevention, early diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up care), the plan is ambitious including a double-pronged objective: conquering the fatality of cancer and reducing health inequalities. ‘Helping Children with Cancer Initiative’ aims to ensure that children have access to rapid and optimal detection, diagnosis, treatment, and care. This initiative will facilitate access to early diagnosis and quality treatment through the network of centres of excellence, which are best encompassed in the European Reference Network for paediatric cancers (ERN PaedCan). It will also support training and enable the sharing of best practice and standards of care for children with cancer, complementing the actions implemented within the European Reference Networks.

We are hopeful that the initiatives on paediatric cancer will increase understanding of cancer initiation and progression, boost the transformation of care and improve diagnostics, treatment, and survivorship support and thus further strengthen the existing cooperation between paediatric, adolescent and adult oncology.

We are enthusiastically looking forward to help shape the implementation of the Plan’s proposals.

For more information contact: europe@cci.care

Take a look at the Europe´s Beating Cancer Plan here: https://ccieurope.eu/download/europes-beating-cancer-plan/

About SIOP Europe, PanCare and CCI Europe:

SIOP Europe (www.siope.eu) – The European Society for Paediatric Oncology (SIOP Europe, or SIOPE) is the single, united European organisation of academia and healthcare professionals dedicated to childhood and teenage cancer, working in close partnership with patient, parent, and childhood cancer survivor groups across Europe.

PanCare (www.pancare.eu ) – The Pan-European Network for Care of Survivors after Childhood and Adolescent Cancer (PanCare) is a group of European healthcare professionals – paediatric haematologists and oncologists, nurses, experts in epidemiology, cancer registration and psychology – survivors and their families who decided to join forces in 2008 to ensure that every European survivor of childhood and adolescent cancer receives optimal long-term care.

CCI Europe (www.ccieurope.eu) – Childhood Cancer International – Europe (CCI Europe) represents childhood cancer parent and survivor groups as well as other childhood cancer organisations in Europe. CCI Europe works together with all relevant stakeholders for the same aim: help children and adolescents with cancer to be cured, with no – or as few as possible – long term health problems/late effects.