Patients
"The European Cancer Organisation strongly believes that the voice of patients should help guide our actions. We live by that value in having patients as members of the Executive, advising us in all that we do. Meeting the challenges of cancer prevention, early diagnosis, treatment and survivorship together, in partnership with the Patient Advisory Committee, gives enormous spirit to our work."
Receiving a cancer diagnosis is life-changing. Plans, perspectives and so much else, immediately take on different dimensions. New encounters lie ahead, which can inevitably be accompanied by a mixture of emotions, including uncertainty, fear, and a sense of lost security.
However, through the tireless activities of countless patient associations across Europe, support, information, and other services are available to assist cancer patients in navigating their care journey and gaining a greater sense of empowerment. More information about Europe's cancer patient associations is available at the bottom of this page.
The European Cancer Organisation is privileged to work with 17 European and international level patient associations who help to steer our initiatives. Their hands-on involvement ensures our projects are meaningful for improving the care received by cancer patients. Such tools produced by the European Cancer Organisation include:
The Essential Requirements for Quality Cancer Care
The quality of cancer care makes a huge difference to patients and their families. It is multidisciplinarity that ensures that there is real teamwork between the healthcare professionals involved in providing patient care.
For this reason, working with patient advocates, alongside healthcare professionals, the European Cancer Organisation has produced 'Essential Requirements for Quality Cancer Care'. These papers articulate, according to tumour type, the picture of cancer care that patients should expect to receive after diagnosis. This includes such matters as: members of the core and extended multidisciplinary team involved in a patient's care, timelines of care, and what to expect of a treating cancer centre, including provision of information and rights to participate in trials.
More information about the Essential Requirements for Quality Cancer Care is available here.
The European Code of Cancer Practice
Building on concepts developed by the European Cancer Patient's Bill of Rights, and modelled on the European Code Against Cancer, the forthcoming European Code of Cancer Practice will aid the achievement of Quality Cancer Care by empowering all cancer patients with a concise tool for understanding and expressing the rights they are entitled to expect after receiving a cancer diagnosis.
The European Code of Cancer Practice will be publicly launched in September 2020.
For more information about the European Code of Cancer Practice please contact our team here.
Patient Advisory Committee
The Patient Advisory Committee (PAC) has been at the heart of the European Cancer Organisation's decision-making structures since 2008. Previously chaired by the EU Commissioner for Health and Food Safety Stella Kyriakides, the Committee is comprised of representatives from 17 leading international patient associations. The Committee helps to ensure all projects and activities of the European Cancer Organisation meet needs and perspectives of patients. The co-chairs of the Patient Advisory Committee are represented as voting members in the Board of Directors and Executive Committee.
More information about the Patient Advisory Committee is available here.
