How is your country doing on cancer screening? New tool to monitor cancer screening policies by ECO

The European Cancer Screening Policy Index gathers the latest data to monitor the progress of European policies on cancer screening

Cancer screening is a key element in the fight against cancer. Implementing best screening practices is critical to detect the disease early and increase chances of survival.

This is why the European Cancer Organisation, under the leadership of its Prevention, Early Detection and Screening Network, launched Time to Accelerate: for Cancer Screening. It helps ensure that all EU Member States are adhering to the latest EU Council screening recommendations and that all EU citizens benefit from them.

At today’s European Cancer Summit, the latest chapter in this ongoing effort is being unveiled: the European Cancer Screening Policy Index. It’s based on a variety existing data from frontline initiatives and key screening indicators, ranking 29 European countries according to their progress across cancer screening policy goals.

The Index is designed to:

• Capture the current state of cancer screening policies across European countries
• Provide a single measurement to benchmark a country’s advances in cancer screening policy
• Highlight actionable policy insights to assist decision makers

Results are now available, and an analysis of current data from across Europe reveals:

1. Progress in cancer screening policy remains very variable across Europe, with the Index’ score ranging from over 90% in Slovenia and Portugal to under 35% for Romania and Bulgaria – highlighting urgent needs for investment
2. Implementation of population-based cancer screening is still incomplete as some European countries still fail to implement programmes recommended since 2003 – harming citizens’ access to early cancer detection and their chances of survival from the disease
3. Unorganised screening means higher inequality: there are significant social inequalities in cancer screening access according to income, education and residential area, that are highest in countries without organised programmes
4. Germany ranks below the EU average on colorectal cancer screening due to a very low adherence to the screening programme
5. Greece has achieved a higher scoring on breast cancer screening, which commentators are ascribing to strong communication strategies and innovative use of mobile cancer screening
6. A growing number of countries are starting to trial new screening programmes for lung and prostate cancer, with Croatia being a notable leader within the EU on lung cancer screening

The European Cancer Screening Policy Index will be a living tool, growing and evolving as new sources of data intelligence on cancer screening become available.

“The earlier a cancer is detected, the higher the opportunities are for survival and recovery. However, it is still shocking to see the lack of progress in cancer screening in many European countries.

We need bolder policy action from law makers, as well as a joint approach to make citizens aware of the importance of the issue. We hope that this new Index can offer a benchmark for new recommendations to bring cancer screening policies up to date with European standards,” – said Prof Isabel Rubio, Co-Chair of the European Cancer Organisation’s Prevention, Early Detection and Screening Network.

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