The Association of European Cancer Leagues (ECL) is an NGO leading on cancer control actions at the European level since 1980. Represented by members in the EU and non-EU countries at the national level, leagues are often the main resource for the public for cancer control information and services. ECL provides a unique platform for cancer leagues to share specific know-how and experiences and is the only network in existence exclusively for cancer leagues. The running of ECL has been mainly financed by fees from its members, which cover a skeleton staff and office expenses. Prior to receiving co-funding in 2015 in the form of an Operating Grant from the EU, ECL's main source of income was membership fees, rates which have not changed for 10 years, but due to times of austerity, ECL has been unable to justify increasing the fees. ECL applied for an Operating Grant in 2014 to increase its resources in order to be able to implement actions efficiently in line with its renewed strategy 2014-2017. In 2015, the EU co-funding allowed us to increase our activities in the implementation of work for Strategic Goal 2: Promote Cancer Prevention. The grant has enabled ECL to increase our work in cancer prevention, and specifically in communicating the new 4th revision of the European Code Against Cancer in 2015, activities which included confirming translations of the Code, encouraging our members to communicate the Code, targeting young adults and incorporating the messages in all our activities including work at the European Parliament. In 2016 we will continue and expand these efforts with the Code as well as continue our normal and important activities such as tobacco control and patient support, while increasing our work at the national levels with our member leagues and other partners, which will include to a limited extent global partners during the World Cancer Congress in October 2016 in Paris.


The Association of European Cancer Leagues (ECL) is an NGO leading on cancer control actions at the European level since 1980. Represented by members in EU and non-EU countries, cancer leagues are the main resource for the public for cancer control information and services. As the only network exclusively for cancer leagues, ECL provides a unique platform for cancer leagues to share knowledge and experience. Prior to receiving operational grant funding, the running of ECL had been financed mainly by membership fees. The addition of EU co-financing since 2015 has allowed ECL to implement activities more effectively in line with our multi-annual strategy, leading to the progressive increase in activities across all 5 of our strategic goals, providing considerable EU added-value in the process. EU co-funding has enabled ECL to increase our work in cancer prevention, especially the promotion of the European Code Against Cancer (ECAC). This has led to the design of new communication tools to raise awareness amongst the general public; the creation of a youth ambassadors programme to improve dissemination amongst young people; and enhanced networking opportunities for leagues allowing them to share best practice and collaborate more efficiently. In 2017, ECL will continue to disseminate the ECAC, making efforts to measure and assess the impact of these activities. ECL will increase efforts to have explicit references to the ECAC in updated National Cancer Control Plans, and will place greater emphasis on the role of cancer leagues in promoting organised cancer screening programmes. ECL will continue its leading role in tobacco control by supporting the 2017 European Conference on Tobacco or Health (ECToH). ECL shall also launch a new task force on the crucial issue of equal access to medicines. This will complement ECL's ongoing secretariat work on behalf of the MEPs Against Cancer interest group of the European Parliament, and the Patient Support Working Group of ECL.


In 2019 EHN will focus on creating awareness of the human and economic burden of CVD among newly-elected MEPs and new EU Commissioners and their cabinets (new EU mandate). We will do so by intensifying interaction and communications with the new EU mandate and organising a meeting at the end of the year, to present our proposal for a plan for action on CVD in Europe.

We do not expect any major new policy developments in 2019, due to the upcoming elections to the European Parliament and the change of EU Commissioners, so we will grasp the opportunity to review our papers on e-cigarettes, CVD risk assessment programmes and physical activity. We will update them with the most recent evidence and disseminate them widely to selected target audiences. We will continue to work on policies that are going through the legislative process, debated in European Fora, or likely to be taken up at EU member state level. Policy areas include agriculture; trade; food information (front-of-pack labelling) and composition (trans fatty acids); and marketing of HFSS food to children.

A key role, as a member organisation, is to support our members by providing information, enhancing their capacities, and facilitating knowledge-exchange. Our role is also to enable them, and their constituencies, to participate in and influence debates on health policy, policies that impact on cardiovascular health, and health regulations. To that end we will organise five meetings for our members and commission research, including on e-/mHealth and how it benefits cardiovascular patients. 2019 will also see the EHN Research Platform swing into action.

In conclusion, we believe that our 2019 operational objectives and the activities we have selected to achieve them, will contribute to achieve the general and specific objectives of our FPA. We believe that putting cardiovascular health on the agenda of new MEPs/Commissioners will benefit EU citizens as well as the EU economy.



In all EU Member states (MS), the high level of overweight and obesity in children and adolescents is of particular concern. In the EU, around 1 in 3 children 6-9 years old were overweight or obese in 2010, a sharp rise in prevalence despite numerous MS or EU initiatives.Physical inactivity and poor diet from birth (and even in utero) are important determinants of adiposity leading to overweight and obesity. They are also independently associated with various non-communicable disease risk factors leading to the main pathologies European populations are suffering from, including detrimental psychosocial outcomes. Overweight and obesity represent an economic burden with up to 7% of EU health budgets spent each year directly on diseases linked to obesity, with more indirect costs resulting from lost productivity. Nutritional problems and physical inactivity need to be addressed in an integrated way so as to promote healthier environments, to make the healthy option the easiest option and to inform and empower families.Within the general frame of the EU Action plan on childhood obesity 2014-2020, the JA’s general objective is to contribute to halting the rise in overweight and obesity in children and adolescents by 2020. Through the, identification, selection and sharing of best data and practices within the 25 countries involved, the JA will allow for : to advocate based on an estimation and forecast of economic cost of overweight and obesity; to improve the implementation of integrated interventions to promote nutrition and physical activity for pregnant women, families with young children; to improve actions within school settings; and to increase the use of nutritional information on foods by public health authorities, stakeholders and families for nutrition policy purposes. The JA will reinforce the links between national nutrition and physical activity policies initiated by the EU Strategy on nutrition, overweight and obesity-related health issues.


The Association of European Cancer Leagues (ECL) is an NGO leading on cancer control actions at the European level since 1980. Represented by members in the EU and non-EU countries at the national level, leagues are often the main resource for the public for cancer control information and services. The running of ECL is financed by fees from its members, which cover a skeleton staff and office expenses. ECL finds it increasingly difficult to run the office on only membership fees, rates which have not changed for 10 years, but due to times of austerity, ECL is unable to justify increasing the fees. Therefore, ECL is applying for this Operating Grant to increase its resources in order to be able to implement actions efficiently in line with its renewed strategy 2014-2017, in particular in its implementation of work for Strategic Goal 2: Promote Cancer Prevention. Cancer prevention actions, including communication campaigns for the public, remain a top priority for ECL and its member leagues, where we have been instrumental in communicating and interpreting for the public the past decade the 3rd Revision of the European Code Against Cancer. With great experience at the national and EU levels, and with proven trust of the public in the Member States, ECL and its member leagues are therefore a natural partner in communicating and disseminating the new (4th) revision of the Code. An EU Grant would be shared with the national leagues to further the other strategic goals: encouraging access to cancer screening; ensuring access to treatment and support; supporting national cancer control programmes and cancer registries; and influencing cancer control policies. More resources would also allow ECL to optimally utilize its network of partners at the European and global level, which include international organisations, the European Parliament, national departments of health etc. to support cancer control in line with priorities of the EU.
