- Further prioritise & raise the profile of CRC in a wide European dimension including participation of all EU Member States

- Contribute towards a healthier European ageing population & workforce

- Continue to strengthen Europe`s current CRC community & motivate it to work together / alongside existing health systems, cooperating effectively whilst building alliances, exchanging knowledge, experience & best practice

- Provide support to CRC patients & ensure they are able to make informed choices about their best treatment & care options and are aware of their rights as patients

- Engage, educate & inform advocates on the benefits of control & prevention of CRC through healthy lifestyles, diet & screening - therefore contribute towards a healthier European workforce

- Provide information to patients on current developments in CRC treatment, screening guidelines ( EU guidelines on CRC Screening and Diagnosis published in early 2011 ) & NCPs highlighting & disseminating the latest information on EU health policies & global developments thus allowing patients to make informed decisions about their healthcare.

- Highlight current developments & continue to work in collaboration with the EAACP on the work plan `Prevention & Screening` whilst providing key impetus to the EU council on change necessary to reduce figures of those affected by CRC

- Allow the opportunity for CRC patients to understand the importance of political lobbying & have significant influence in healthcare policy outcomes

- Highlight the importance of clinical trials to CRC patients across Europe thus contributing to the future of CRC care. Emphasising the benefits of participating in clinical trials & the importance of informed consent

- Address emotional, spiritual & practical challenges surrounding CRC
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The objectives of the conference include the presentation of aconcrete initiative related to Health Promotion and Disease Prevention from the early years of life and across the lifecycle. The output of the conference is to bring respective conclusions at the EPSCO (Health) Council, based on:

Healthy Lifestyle from early age: The adoption of healthy lifestyles from early age, has been proved to be directly linked to the implementation of concrete preventive and health promotion programmes implemented from the first steps of life and extended throughout the lifecycle so as to cover people at any stage of life. In addition to that, it has been identified by several researchers that effective programmes are also related to intersectoral and multiprofessional approaches which include elements such as empowerment and active involvement of individuals, families, organized groups and the community throughout the whole process of planning, implementation, evaluation and restructuring of these programmes.
Elements of healthy lifestyle, such as healthy environment will be discussed during the conference. Under this perspective, the focus will be on early childhood seeds of respiratory diseases in relation to environmental and lifestyle exposure, as a mean of determining the health of population from early childhood. Additionally, determinants such as smoking, nutrition and physical activity, can prevent major health problems and predominate the Health of the children, with respective results on the Health Behavior and Physical Situation of the elderly. Thus, the implementation of innovative preventive programmes through effective funding tools predominates the way forward to an innovative and cost effective treatment of the elderly.

Health issues of Childhood and Adolescence: This conference session will focus on the analysis of the main determinants of health of children and adolescents and discuss on the effectiveness of potential public health policy interventions in early life aiming to protect, promote and improve their health and build the foundations for future health. Attention will also be given on the importance of compiling comparable data for the readjustment of related health policies in areas such as cardiovascular diseases, cancer registries. The session will end up with the examination of best practices in this field and the exploration of effective funding tools determining the way forward.

Health of working age people: Though this session of the conference the aim is to present and discuss on several factors that may affect the health of working age people. Also already implemented programmes towards the promotion of health and links between health and workplace performance will also be discussed.

Wellbeing in Later Life: Early intervention through population risk assessment for specific diseases in combination with innovative therapeutic approaches addressed to early years, can enable the identification of risk factors and stimulates the pathway to the correct and timed treatment of patients.
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The general objective of the project is to improve occupational health at workplaces in the European countries. The general objective include enhancing the importance of health at work in social, employment and health policies to increase healthy working years and attract more people to enter and remain in labour market. In addition, the objective is to invest in maintenance and promotion of work ability, workplace development and workplace wellbeing to improve the quantity and quality of jobs and productivity of work, and attach and mainstream health at work to other policies of the EU and EU member states. The ultimate aim of the project is to get health at work to the agenda of the EU to improve health of the employees and significantly increase the attractiveness to enter and remain at work and labour market. Therefore, a political approach is needed for the solution of health at work by policies and strategies of the EU and EU member states
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The European Cancer Patient Coalition, representing 300 cancer patient groups from all cancers, plans to hold a Summit within the framework of the Cancer Partnership to rally all cancer patient groups, the oncological and scientific community from across the EU, European and national policy makers and politicians behind the Cancer Partnership to create the momentum for wide-spread action at EU and member state level.

The conference will contribute to the 2nd Health Programme by addressing actions to reduce the burden of cancer, tackle inequalities across the EU, disseminate information and knowledge about the work of the Cancer Partnership. It will bring together other public health initiatives such as the health promotion and prevention, the anti-tobacco campaign, the Obesity platform, the Rare Disease Communication, the Council Recommendation on Cancer Screening of 2003, the work on the Quality Assurance Screening Guidelines, the cancer research initiatives undertaken by DG Research, and the forthcoming "European Partnership for Action Against Cancer".


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