Funded by the European Commission’s Health & Consumer Protection Directorate and the Government of Slovenia
The decision by the Slovenian Presidency of the European Union (EU) in 2008 to focus on cancer provided an important opportunity to explore how policy makers in Europe are responding to the huge public health challenge of cancer, and to develop new policy recommendations.
Therefore, the European Commission’s Health & Consumer Protection Directorate and the Government of Slovenia supported a collaboration between internationally recognised public health institutes in the EU, among them LSHTM, under the umbrella of the project ‘Fighting Against Cancer Today’ (FACT).
The main objectives were to close the gap between cancer prevention, diagnosis, treatment and care between and within EU member states, and to send a strong political signal that immediate and concerted action is needed to reduce cancer incidence and mortality and to improve cancer outcomes across Europe.
A series of activities were planned, among these, the preparation of the publication ‘Responding to the challenge of cancer in Europe‘, addressing the situation on cancer in Europe as an important task that will ultimately facilitate setting out an agenda for action by policy makers at all levels. This task was jointly coordinated by LSHTM and the Slovenian Institute of Public Health.