Policy
Tackling cancer in high-risk areas: the ‘Marmot City’ model
Inequalities in social, economic and educational status are inherent in all societies, to a greater or lesser extent. The discovery that a person’s health and life expectancy are closely tied to their position in the social hierarchy opened up new…
Women’s career progression in science: challenges, barriers, and solutions
Despite significant and hopefully promising discussions, graphs plotted using data from studies conducted at global and European levels continue to show a distinctive ‘scissors’ shape, indicating a significant gender gap in academic and scientific careers, which starts at the doctoral…
Making sense of recent progress in advanced breast cancer
Every two years breast cancer specialists and patient advocates gather at the Advanced Breast Cancer (ABC) International Consensus Conference to discuss challenges and uncertainties in treatment and care of people with advanced breast cancer, to explore how evidence, knowledge and…
Not just a climate issue: cutting cancer rates through cleaner cooking fuels in Africa
Nearly one billion people in Africa depend on polluting fuels like wood, charcoal, and kerosene for cooking, lighting, and heating their homes. The resulting household air pollution leads to approximately 700,000 premature deaths every year, constituting about 10% of the…
Reversing the rising trend in prostate cancer mortality in Poland
Between 2015 and 2020, age-standardised prostate cancer mortality rates rose by an estimated 18% in Poland, reflecting an increase in deaths from 4,876 to 5,748 over that period. This trend was in sharp contrast to EU countries as a whole,…
From stigma to strategy: Egypt’s journey in combating cervical cancer
Before 2021, there was little official focus on cervical cancer in Egypt. The World Health Organization's 2021 report indicated that fewer than 1 in 10 Egyptian women had been screened for cervical cancer in the previous five years. That was…
Tackling the crisis in Europe’s oncology workforce
"We’ve heard politicians saying, ‘It's a time bomb’. No, it's not a time bomb. We see the system is cracking completely right now." Norbert Couespel, senior coordinator of policy research at the European Cancer Organisation, voices his deep frustration at…
Further and faster: ECO mobilises to accelerate momentum from Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan
“All over Europe new initiatives are being triggered. New communities of action are being formed, from young cancer trainees taking part in interspecialty training together, to cancer centres in every country getting ready to be part of a brand new…
Advocating for accessible cancer care in the global South: are we doing this all wrong?
“You have to convince the people with their hands on the levers of power. They don’t see things as we see them. They have other problems on their minds…” Ten years after launching the Stop Cancer Now! appeal, which outlined…
Hospice caring for women with cervical cancer launches own mobile screening clinic
It’s 9.30 in the heart of Kaliro district in eastern Uganda, and a group of women is already gathered outside the Nansololo Health Centre II by the time the van from the Rays of Hope Hospice Jinja arrives. They are…