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.
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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.
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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.
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The Association of European Cancer Leagues (ECL) provides a unique platform as the only organisation with the mission of uniting, at the European level, national and regional cancer leagues to achieve a cancer-free Europe. In coherence with the FPA 2018-2021, this SGA focuses on the core activities to be implemented in 2018 in respect of the following strategic objectives:
1) Informing policy to ensure cancer control remains high on the political agenda;
2) Promoting the European Code Against Cancer (ECAC) as the essential tool for cancer prevention;
3) Supporting leagues in the implementation of the Council Recommendation on Cancer Screening;
4) Uniting leagues to advocate for equal access to treatment, support, and rehabilitation for cancer patients;
5) Advocating for the European Guide for quality improvement in cancer control to be mainstreamed in national cancer plans.
In concrete terms, these objectives will be achieved by: the organisation of a policy dialogue during the European Week against Cancer (EWAC), and development of toolkit to facilitate the roll-out of this format across the EU during EWAC; increasing ECL actions on organised cancer screening by publishing a lay version of the recent EU cancer screening report, and developing training for cancer leagues in this area; promotion of the ECAC by networking cancer leagues, and enhancing the role of the ECL Youth Ambassadors in these efforts; publication of guidelines by the Patient Support Working Group and Access to Medicines Task Force of ECL; and ongoing secretariat function of the successful MEPs against Cancer group of the European Parliament. In addition, ECL will host two trainees from the EU Solidarity Corps, and develop a process to encourage the wider participation of cancer leagues in this initiative.
This proposal has relevance to the annual work programme through its focus on health determinants and health promotion, boosting cancer control, and equitable access to healthcare.
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The Association of European Cancer Leagues (ECL) provides a unique platform as the only organisation with the mission of uniting, at the European level, national and regional cancer leagues to achieve a cancer-free Europe. In coherence with the FPA 2018-2021, this SGA focuses on the core activities to be implemented in 2019 in respect of the following strategic objectives:

1) Informing policy to ensure cancer control remains high on the political agenda;
2) Promoting the European Code Against Cancer (ECAC) as the essential tool for cancer prevention;
3) Supporting leagues in the implementation of the Council Recommendation on Cancer Screening;
4) Uniting leagues to advocate for equal access to treatment, support, and rehabilitation for cancer patients;
5) Advocating for the European Guide for quality improvement in cancer control to be mainstreamed in national
cancer plans.

These objectives will be achieved by several actions, including:
- performing a survey of national contact points to update the triennial tobacco control scale;
- securing the re-establishment of the MEPs against Cancer (MAC) group in the next mandate of the European Parliament;
- publishing a policy framework of supportive actions to implement the European Code against Cancer;
- developing a web portal on cancer screening to be hosted on the ECL website (www.cancer.eu);
- drafting and disseminating new guidelines on healthcare professionals communication with patients, and effective use of volunteers by cancer leagues;
- collecting best practice on the implementation of the CanCon guide at the national level.

This proposal has relevance to the annual work programme through its focus on health determinants and health promotion, boosting cancer control, and equitable access to healthcare.
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