The European Commission presented in September 2022 a new approach relating to the cancer detection through screeningThe Recommendation speaks of increasing “the uptake of screening for breast, colorectal and cervical cancer in order to achieve the target set out in the European Plan to Beat Cancer”. They stress that, by 2025, these screenings must be offered to 90% of eligible individuals and that they must cover other cancers, such as lung, prostate and gastric cancer.
To promote the implementation of the European Recommendation, All.Can and the EFPIA Oncology Platform (EOP) began collaborating in April 2023 to promote a “constructive and evidence-based” dialogue on cancer screening. This was done in four European countries, with Spain being one of the selected countries, in addition to its EU neighbours Belgium, Italy and Romania.
To fulfill the mission of raising awareness about cancer screening, specifically about its implementation on a national scale, All.Can and EOP organized round tables and political debates during the second half of 2023 and the first quarter of 2024.
Spain
In February 2024, Todos Podemos Spain and the EOP held two round tables multilateral meetings on cancer screening at the EU Representation in Madrid. One of them was made up of technical experts and the other of political leaders, including representatives of the Ministry of Health and the autonomous communities.
Public officials supported the experts’ conclusions, highlighting the Importance of these screenings to reduce cancer mortalityincrease the quality of life of patients and their families and the sustainability of the SNS, although they admitted that these are complex programs whose evaluation must be exhaustive.
The participants in the round tables took the opportunity to Urge policy makers to continue working on the implementation of pilot models for cancer screening as a first step towards its widespread adoption in the National Health System.
Belgium
In November 2023, All.Can Belgium launched the Working Group on Lung Cancer (LCWG), a multi-stakeholder group, to address critical needs within the lung cancer care pathway, including the implementation of screening programs. Much of the discussion focused on the feasibility of population-based lung cancer screening and the cost-effectiveness of such a program.
The KCE (Knowledge Center Belgium) and the HGR/CSS (Higher Council of Health), published an opinion on lung cancer screening in April 2024. In it, they state that this procedure has been shown to reduce lung cancer mortality and overall mortality among high-risk individuals screened.
Italia
All.Can organised a conference at the Italian Ministry of Health in February 2024, with the participation of representatives of patient associations and scientific societies. From the event, the Ministry committed itself to, on the one hand, improve adherence to screening in all Italian regions and, on the other hand, to partner with several regions to launch pilot screening programs to collect and analyze data to evaluate the large-scale implementation of other programs for different types of cancer.
Romania
All.Can and EOP organised an online seminar at the end of November 2023 to discuss the latest updates to the EU guidelines on cancer screening and their implications for Romania, but the situation in the country is very different from the rest. In their case, Screening for preventable cancers is still in its early stages of developmentand is done opportunistically rather than through a more effective population-based approach.
To date, the only active screening program funded by the Ministry of Health is the one cervical cancerwhich has low participation rates and limited geographic coverage. Pilot programmes have been implemented at regional level for breast cancer and colorectal cancer.
All.Can recognizes that “despite the clear benefits, The road to implementing effective cancer screening programmes in Eastern Europe has many challengessuch as financial constraints, lack of infrastructure and low health knowledge.”
The positive impact of the initiative
The four countries agreed on several points after the round tables, such as that the initiative had a positive impact. They also highlight the need for adequate funding for screening programmesthe need for urgent and sustained political leadership and collaborative action at all levels. Finally, they attach importance to comprehensive education and awareness campaigns among the population on the importance of screening and early diagnosis of cancer.
