Makes quality of life and financial burden recommendations
A new guide aiming to save money, time and lives in the fight against cancer has been published by CanCon, the EU co-funded initiative to improve cancer control in Europe.
Public Health England is among the 126 partner organisations that contributed to the European Guide on Quality Improvements in Comprehensive Cancer Control, which gives recommendations for cancer care professionals in the UK and throughout Europe.
It focuses on the need for greater access to care and early diagnosis as well as attention to rehabilitation and survivorship as the number of people being diagnosed and those overcoming the disease grows.
Tit Albreht, coordinator of CanCon, said: “The quality improvement of cancer care is are the heart of the CanCon Guide.
“It will be reached by focusing on the patient’s experience, care and health services organisation, delivery and accessibility.”
The guide includes a detailed survivorship care plan, proposals for integrated and community-level care, and evidence-based recommendations for cancer screening programmes.
A series of policy papers have also been published alongside the CanCon guide, covering oncology genomics, European objectives for cancer control, healthcare interventions, an impact evaluation system for prevention outcomes, and the financing of EU cancer control.
The initiative began in 2014 and will culminate on 23 February this year after the guide’s presentation and discussion by European health ministers at a conference hosted in Malta this week.
Albreht added: “The implementation of these recommendations is the next step. We do not want the guide to be just another book on the shelf.”