Hellenic Cancer Federation | ELLOK shared on LinkedIn:
“The Hellenic Cancer Federation – ELLOK welcomes the State’s announcement of €27 million in funding for the development of comprehensive cancer care services at Bodosakeio Hospital in Ptolemaida, an important step towards improving cancer care for the people of Western Macedonia.
This is an important decision, not only because of the scale of the investment and the new capabilities it will create, but also because of the way we arrived at it.
The process began with the question that should underpin every serious health policy planning exercise: What are the real needs of people living with cancer in a particular region, and how can we address them more effectively?
In this context, the 3rd Regional Health Authority, the Hellenic Cancer Federation – ELLOK and the Department of Health Services Organisation and Evaluation at the School of Nursing of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA) collaborated on a comprehensive assessment of cancer care needs in Western Macedonia.
The findings revealed a particularly challenging situation in the region and clearly demonstrated the need for intervention.
The Hellenic Cancer Federation – ELLOK particularly wishes to recognise:
- the swift response of Minister of Health Adonis Georgiadis, who took the immediate political decision to move forward with the intervention and mobilised the State to identify the necessary solution and secure the required resources.
- the contribution of Deputy Minister of National Economy and Finance Nikos Papathanasis in securing the funding that now allows the planning process to move into implementation.
- the initiative, persistence and determination with which Dimitrios Tsalikakis, Governor of the 3rd Regional Health Authority, approached the issue from the outset.
- the important contribution by Daphne Kaitelidou, Professor and Director of the Laboratory for Organisation and Evaluation of Health Services, Department of Public Health, School of Nursing, NKUA. Together with her team, she undertook the demanding task of analysing and substantiating the evidence, transforming the available real-world data into knowledge on which comprehensive planning could be based.
- The experience in Western Macedonia also illustrates the value of bringing different actors together around a shared understanding of local cancer needs.
For Ellok, the Hellenic Cancer Mission Hub, this is precisely the kind of synergy that can help translate the objectives of the European Cancer Mission into meaningful action at regional and national level: identifying needs, connecting relevant actors, generating and using evidence, and supporting the development of cancer services that respond to the realities faced by patients and communities.
From data to knowledge.
From knowledge to planning. And from planning to decisions that genuinely improve people’s lives.
This is the path we must follow.”
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