EUROPA DONNA Breast Cancer Advocacy Leader Conference 2022
Europa Donna Breast Cancer Advocacy Leader Conference: Building our Organisations for the Future 24 September 2022
September flew by so quickly!
We were very busy preparing for the biannual Breast Cancer Advocacy Leader Conference, which took place on 24 September in Milan. In the end we can proudly say that it was a success, with 45 leaders from 26 of the Coalition’s member countries participating in our first in-person meeting since the outbreak of the pandemic.
The morning session was opened by our President Tanja Spanic, and guests were pleased to watch a powerful video message from French MEP Veronique Trillet-Lenoir highlighting the urgent need to address inequalities in breast cancer and introducing the Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan (EBCP)’s ambitious goals, such as detecting risk factors, improving health literacy, providing increased support to patients and improving quality of life for cancer patients. The EBCP was later covered in more detail by ED CEO Marzia Zambon and Prof. Tit Albreht (National Institute of Public Health, Slovenia), who presented on implementation of the outputs of the cancer control Joint Actions in EU Member States, followed by Prof. Fabrice André (Gustave Roussy Cancer Center, France), who gave an interesting and clear lecture on genetics, genomics and personalised treatment, and then Dr. Olivia Pagani, who discussed why and how patient advocates should seek involvement in research and clinical trials.
The afternoon session was dedicated to further explanation of the European Commission Initiative on Breast Cancer (ECIBC), presented by representatives of the European Commission Joint Research Centre. We took the opportunity to announce that Marzia Zambon, ED’s Executive Director, has been selected to be part of the ECIBC’s Quality Assurance Scheme (Congratulations!). After that, we had a fruitful session of interactive workshops to exchange fresh ideas on fundraising, implementing EU breast cancer policy at the national level, and participating in research and clinical trials.
It was a real satisfaction to see all these incredible dedicated people assembled to advance best practice in breast cancer advocacy!
