Cancer Screening Data

Launching the European Cancer Screening Policy Index!

Using the best available data is essential to inform the advancement of cancer screening policy. Numerous initiatives are working in the field, however the complexity of the information and the multiple sources it comes from can make it difficult for policymakers to grasp an overview of cancer screening progress and act accordingly.

The European Cancer Screening Policy Index is a new practical solution to support the delivery of cancer screening commitments across European countries. 

The European Cancer Screening Policy Index aims to:

• Capture the current state of cancer screening policies across European countries and recommended cancer screening programmes, through a composite score bringing together and interpreting data intelligence from various sources;
• Provide a single measurement benchmarking countries’ advancement in cancer screening policy according to the EU Council Recommendations on Cancer Screening;
• Highlight actionable policy insights to assist decision-makers.

What the European Cancer Screening Policy Index does:

• It builds upon existing initiatives and data, from leading international institutions in collecting cancer screening information;
• It includes a limited set of key quantitative and qualitative indicators on cancer screening implementation across countries, focused on those with the highest policy relevance;
• It is developed together with an expert group of oncologists, patient representatives and other leading academic experts in the field;
• It incorporates national input to validate and contextualise the findings;
• It will be a living tool, growing and evolving as new sources of data intelligence on cancer screening become available.

Background

Workstream 1 covers the data aspect on cancer screening in Europe through literature search of the current initiatives and existing indicators of the six cancers covered by the Council’s latest recommendations (Breast, Cervical, Colorectal, Gastric, Lung and Prostate). This literature review aims to put together a clear and concise cancer screening national policy implementation index tracing the current state-of-the-art of cancer screening across Europe to support policymakers and follow the plan’s progress. Not only will it highlight the status of each country regarding cancer screening implementation, but also broadcast the key indicators of cancer screening programmes’ performance across Europe.

Along with data gathering, the mapping of associated experts within our community will enable the creation of an expert group, indispensable to ensure the applicability and reliability of our final cancer screening national policy implementation index.