Joint Action European Partnership for Action Against Cancer

Abstract

Cancer is a major European public health issue and represents the second most important cause of death and morbidity in Europe. Moreover, as a result of constant advances in medicine, medical technology and other sciences, and due to improvements in economic circumstances, cancer survival rates are increasing in Europe and prevalent cases (i.e. number of subjects who have experienced cancer) represent a growing proportion of the population. In order to tackle cancer efficiently throughout the European Member states, the European Commission launched the Joint Action (JA) ‘European Partnership for Action Against Cancer’ (EPAAC) facilitated by the Community Health Programme, in September 2009. EPAAC is designed to fill a gap in cooperation, collaboration and shared experiences for countries with similar needs and diverse experience in the area of their national cancer control policies. Activities and studies are tackling the main challenges of cancer control in Europe as a whole and in the Member states, including the provision of services and health system responses, human resources and research. In contrast with previous European actions in the field of cancer, EPAAC joins different partners and stakeholders at various levels ranging from Member states (including Iceland and Norway) and Regions to patient representatives.

Many Diseases, One Model of Care?

“…Two major European initiatives have been launched in recent years to encourage European governments to address the multiple cancer-related challenges within their own healthcare systems. The EPAAC (www.epaac.eu) was launched in 2009, under the umbrella of the European Commission, with the initial goal of characterizing and building upon the knowledge and expertise captured within existing national cancer control policies [ 1 ]. A second early objective of the EPAAC was to satisfy the need for an integrated and structured approach to tackling cancer in each member state, with teams of experts addressing issues including health promotion and prevention, screening and early diagnosis, research, information and data, and national cancer plans [ 1 ].…”

“…The EPAAC (www.epaac.eu) was launched in 2009, under the umbrella of the European Commission, with the initial goal of characterizing and building upon the knowledge and expertise captured within existing national cancer control policies [ 1 ]. A second early objective of the EPAAC was to satisfy the need for an integrated and structured approach to tackling cancer in each member state, with teams of experts addressing issues including health promotion and prevention, screening and early diagnosis, research, information and data, and national cancer plans [ 1 ]. In April 2014, after extensive collaboration, research, and debate, the EPAAC published its “European guide for quality national cancer control programmes” [ 2 ], containing a synthesized description of the broad range of cancer control services that may be offered through national health systems and a proposed list of indicators that countries may consider in order to improve the monitoring and evaluation of their plans.…”

Multidisciplinary teams for the proper management of patients with genitourinary tumors: When topics set scientific societies’ agenda

“…Although EPAAC considers MDT a fundamental approach in oncologic care, 1 Cancer “and” MDTs are mandatory in several countries such as Belgium, France, and the United Kingdom, and in the literature MDTs in genitourinary tumors seem to impact diagnostic and therapeutic procedures, little is known on objective proposal of options, outcomes, patient compliance, and specialists’ satisfaction. 2-18 The formalization of MDTs may contribute in evaluating the multidisciplinary approach at a national level in different health contexts and in producing ready-to-use recommendations for the establishment of MDTs.…”

“…According to the definition of the European Partnership for Action Against Cancer (EPAAC), 1 “multidisciplinary teams (MDTs) are an alliance of all medical and health care professionals related to a specific tumor disease whose approach to cancer care is guided by their willingness to agree on evidence-based clinical decisions and to co-ordinate the delivery of care at all stages of the process, encouraging patients in turn to take an active role in their care.” This statement results from the evaluation of the benefits of multidisciplinary management on outcome and survival 2-10 and the agreement on the multidisciplinary approach as a key element in tumor care. 11,12…”

Quantifying burden of disease to support public health policy in Belgium: opportunities and constraints

“…Cardiovascular diseases and cancers have replaced infectious diseases as the main causes of death. However, these diseases are also associated with an important morbidity component, due to the life prolonging effect of continuously improving medical practice [ 4 ]. Moreover, not only an extended life expectancy per se is aimed for, living these extra years in good health has become just as important [ 5 ].…”