Building Bridges, Beating Cancer, An #EUnite Event
Join us as we build bridges to beat cancer!
Cancer is not one disease, but a constellation of diseases of immense complexity which manifests in many different forms and cannot be solved through a one-size-fits-all approach.
Quickly becoming the number one killer in Europe, cancer is a policy priority for the EU and is a societal issue with a profound human effect on patients, care givers, family, and friends. Impacting people in the prime of their lives, it has serious social and economic implications as patients might be the sole earners supporting their families, raising children, or building towards their dreams and aspirations in life.
In 2020 alone, 2.7 million people in the EU were diagnosed with cancer and 1.3 million people lost their lives to it. If nothing changes in how we prevent, diagnose, and treat cancer, the number of cases is set to increase by 24% within 15 years, making it the leading cause of death in the EU.
As cancer cases rise, inequalities in care and treatment will grow as well. The probability of receiving a timely diagnosis and surviving the disease already differs greatly across Europe due to major inequities in access to cancer knowledge, prevention, diagnostics, treatments, and care. If these inequalities are not reduced, more Europeans than ever before will be left at risk.
As a result of the pandemic, we have witnessed the power collaboration and inclusion hold to overcome significant health challenges by approaching them as a social responsibility. Cancer is a health crisis demanding our attention. Tackling the cancer crisis in Europe will require the same mindset shift towards trust and cooperation across all stakeholders, including institutions, industry, academia, and patient groups.
Building Bridges, Beating Cancer
To identify and support the best practices to challenge the cancer crisis in Europe, ScanBalt and Novartis are co-organizing an event which will focus on innovative solutions to bridge the differences and inequalities in access to treatment in the Europe1.
Further information can be found on the website: https://www.biome.novartis.com/news/building-bridges-beating-cancer-eunite-event
1 https://ec.europa.eu/health/sites/default/files/non_communicable_diseases/docs/eu_cancer-plan_en.pdf
