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Published: 02 October 2024

National Screening Service joins international partners to launch European Joint Action on Cancer Screening

EUCanScreen project launch, Riga, Lativa, September 2024

We recently joined European partners to launch the Joint Action on Cancer Screening project - EUCanScreen. The project is one of the most significant European Commission initiatives in the fight against cancer. It brings together 97 institutions from 29 countries including Irish partners - the Department of Health, the Royal College of Surgeons and the HSE National Screening Service.

The main goal of EUCanScreen is to assure sustainable implementation of high-quality screening for breast, cervical and bowel cancers, as well as implementation of recently recommended screening programmes for lung, prostate and stomach cancers.

Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan includes a priority action to develop a new EU-supported cancer screening scheme to assure high performance of cancer screening programmes across all EU member states focusing on making improvements in three key areas: access, quality and diagnostics. Cancer represents a significant portion of the disease burden in Europe, much of which is preventable. The EUCanScreen project is designed to address this challenge by supporting strategies and policies that aim to reduce the burden of cancer by improving early detection of cancer and achieving equity across the EU.

The 4-year project includes 11 workstreams, with Ireland involved in 8 of these including:

  • coordinating and supporting activities to reduce inequalities in access to and quality of breast, cervical and bowel cancer screening programmes
  • implementing research to improve existing screening programmes
  • development and assessment of methods for promoting informed choice, and improving health literacy and communications
  • capacity building and leadership training in cervical screening and colposcopy
  • co-leading on activities and working with our colleagues in the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer, to improve sustainable implementation of population-based cancer screening programmes in European regions where programmes are not yielding the expected impact or are not yet implemented.

Speaking from the event, our Chief Executive Fiona Murphy said “It’s exciting for Ireland to be involved in so many aspects of this important collaborative project. The goal is to promote accessible and effective screening in all European countries and to increase public awareness of the importance of early diagnosis to reduce cancer-related deaths. This is closely aligned with the objectives of our own strategy, Choose Screening, and we are keen to learn and to share our knowledge and expertise to help improve the efficiency of cancer screening programmes across the EU.

“The project also provides us with an opportunity to foster closer cooperation with our European partners. We look forward to working with our partners to support equity, engagement, and promote operational excellence to enhance our ability to combat cancer. Together, we’re striving to save lives and improve the quality of care for our screening participants.”

The event was hosted by the Institute of Clinical Preventive Medicine at the University of Latvia from 24 to 27 September 2024.