The yearly SIOPE event marks the International Childhood Cancer Day (15 February) to discuss the existing inequalities in paediatric cancer care and research across Europe, in order to identify all the possible solutions to tackle them.

The European paediatric oncology community will present and debate our electoral Manifesto, which sets up clear political objectives for a future paediatric oncology agenda of the new European Parliament, and will be endorsed by committed MEPs.

All stakeholders involved in paediatric oncology - patients, survivors, parents, paediatric oncologists, and representatives from the European institutions and industry - will attend this high-level event.

The event will be divided in two parts: a session on ’The needs of paediatric oncology towards 2020‘, and an all-embracing roundtable debate, which will raise awareness on the existing divide between low/medium and high income countries in terms of research and care in Europe, identifying possible solutions.

This year’s event is particularly timely: recent studies, including the EUROCARE 5 report, show that there are still huge unacceptable inequalities in childhood cancer care within Europe, with survival rates generally 10 to 20% lower in Eastern Europe and larger disparities for cancers with the poorest outcomes.

Furthermore, the Parliamentary question on Fighting Paediatric Cancer submitted by MEP Willmott, MEP Juvin and MEP Parvanova and the European Commission’s strategy on health inequalities show that the EU institutions are trying to address this problem, strengthening the link between EU policies and national health system reforms.

Source: SIOPE