Message from the ECO President and Immediate Past-President
By Andreas Charalambous, ECO President, and Matti Aapro, Immediate ECO Past-President
Dear Colleagues of the European Cancer Community,
None of what the European Cancer Organisation (ECO) does would be possible without your active involvement, which was again on display in the preparation and execution of the many World Cancer Day initiatives. The two of us had the privilege of participating in fruitful conversations at the European Commission’s Ensuring Equal Access to All event and the European Conference of the French National Cancer Institute (INCa) held in the context of the French Presidency of the Council of the European Union 2022. With regards to the latter, ECO contributed to the Political Declaration, having the opportunity to assume a leading role in the “International Cooperation” workshop and contribute to the other four ones. We also had the honour of engaging with many of you throughout our Time To Act Ireland national event on 4 February.
Carefully leveraging the achievements of the past is fundamental to successfully see our Strategy 2020-2023 through, especially within an organisation fighting an ever-evolving disease such as cancer. We must continue to build upon what we have achieved while adapting to the many challenges and opportunities of the current cancer policy environment.
With our multidisciplinary approach, we continue to grow the well-established relationships with our 40 Member Societies and 20 Patient Advocacy groups, while collaborating with other stakeholders to build consensus and achieve improvement in cancer care. Our nine Focused Topic Networks are of particular value as each acts as a gateway to different aspects of the cancer care continuum. Please do not hesitate to
Creating a sense of togetherness and upholding our core values is an ongoing activity for us, and our regular Executive Committee and Board meetings, as well as General Assemblies, help us do just that. We are proud to announce our Board of Directors for 2022-2023, including six newly elected members: Ajay Aggarwal, Patrizia Burra, Fedro Peccatori, Beate Rau, Wendy Oldenmenger and Winette van der Graaf.
We welcome their expertise, and yours, in protecting Europeans against the growing threat of cancer. An ideal time to marshal forces in this fight is during our annual European Cancer Summit. The latest event, held on 17 & 18 November, included 12 hybrid sessions inspired by our Networks, Europe's Beating Cancer Plan and the EU Cancer Mission.
Several topics were emphasised during the sessions, such as the need for improved access to and uptake of screening, which allowed the Prevention, Early Detection and Screening Network to introduce their relevant stakeholder consensus statement: “Earlier is Better: Advancing Cancer Screening and Early Detection”.
Complementing this pillar of prevention, our Digital Health Network took centre stage as they promoted their recently released position paper: “Unlocking the Potential of Digitalisation in Cancer Care – No Stopping Us Now!”.
With our focus on patients – the reason we are all in this together – the HPV Action Network took the opportunity to present a new ‘HPV Testimonies’ project, with a variety of patient and survivor stories to help influence policies on vaccination and screening in Europe.
We once again found ourselves proud to be part of the wider cancer community, and moved by the testimonies, stories and earnest commitments made from the event’s 100 speakers and delegates – online and onsite in Brussels.
In addition, it was rewarding to see so many delegates sign the European Cancer Summit 2021 Declaration, endorsed by over 65 organisations, and contribute to the European Cancer Summit 2021 Report by providing an account of key Summit discussions and recommendations.
Another testament to everyone’s personal investment in the fight against cancer is our Time To Act campaign. Many of you have given so selflessly to this effort, including our Campaign Supporters. We could not be more thankful for the dedicated participation of the cancer community and we invite you to browse our campaign’s new landmark tool, the ‘Data Navigator’. Presented as an interactive map, this novel data-visualisation tool gathers data on the impact of Covid-19 on cancer. The analysis includes 200+ sources across an initial set of 17 European countries, with more to come. We invite you to submit new data from your country and/or European region.
We welcome you to read the latest publications and items mentioned above, as well as those highlighted below, in this ‘Quarterly’ update.
- Consensus charter: “Essential Requirements for Quality Cancer Care: Pancreatic Cancer”
- Policy Paper: “Comprehensive Cancer Care Across the EU: Advancing the Vision”
- Position Paper: “Self-Sampling and HPV Screening in Europe”
- “Making Hope Reality: Action on Treatment and Care for Metastatic Cancer Patients”, a Report from the ECO Community 365 Roundtable Meeting on Metastatic Cancer
Looking forward to seeing many of you at the hybrid European Cancer Summit 2022 on 16 & 17 November!
Best wishes,
Andreas Charalambous
President, European Cancer Organisation
Matti Aapro
Immediate Past-President, European Cancer Organisation
