The ESMO Manifesto: outlining key areas to unleash the potential of Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan
The ESMO Manifesto represents the Society’s commitment to support European institutions as well as national decision-makers when developing, implementing and monitoring policies to effectively tackle the scourge of cancer and achieve optimal cancer care for all.
The Manifesto outlines 5 areas of intervention identified as crucial for the success of Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan, always keeping the patients —and their rights— at the centre:
For Patients, With Patients
- ESMO advocates for a renewed focus on survivorship by calling on EU Member States to introduce legislation that binds financial providers to disregard cancer survivors’ medical history when assessing their claims or applications.
- The non-binding code of conduct (CoC) on fair access to financial services should become both mandatory and extended to other critical aspects of a survivor’s life, such as employment security.
Prevention
- ESMO calls for swift responsiveness of the EU institutions in the face of societal changes, prioritising:
- The revision of the Tobacco Products Directive to reflect the emerging risks from e-cigarettes.
- Legislation to reduce the risk of melanoma from ultraviolet radiation (UVR) caused by the use of sunbeds.
- Raising consumers’ awareness about dietary patterns and cancer risks through, for example, the labelling of alcoholic beverages and unhealthy food products.
- ESMO supports national and EU policies designed to tackle vaccination hesitancy and eliminate the obstacles that limit vaccination coverage.
- The EU institutions and Member States should also legislate to reduce the risk from occupational carcinogens and environmental pollutants such as endocrine disruptors or benzene.
Treatment
- ESMO advocates for the development of a criterion-based definition of unmet medical need (UMN) and the scientific guidelines on the category of orphan medicinal products addressing high unmet medical need (HUMN). This should be prioritised in order to assist the treatment of Europe’s 5.1 million patients with rare – an annual incidence of less than 6 per 100.000 – or ultra rare cancers.
- Policymakers are encouraged to use all provisions within the legislation to ensure that medical oncologists’ expertise can be utilised to help secure patient access to innovative cost-effective treatments.
Research
- ESMO encourages the prioritisation of cancer research within the 10th EU Framework Programme (FP10), with specific workstreams focusing on the multidimensional causes of (rare) cancer, personalised cancer therapies and artificial intelligence to support clinical decision-making.
- Existing legislation and initiatives related to medical devices and health data – with the ambitious implementation of the In Vitro Diagnostic Medical Devices Regulation and the creation of the European Health Data Space – should facilitate rather than hinder the dynamism of the EU research ecosystem, including the achievement of the aforementioned goals.
Workforce
- ESMO calls on the EU to increase the available funding for professional development training programmes and to modernise the Professional Qualifications Directive to reflect emerging workforce challenges.
- In light of the escalating challenges related to staff shortages and work-life balance, ESMO welcomes calls for a dedicated Directive on work-related psychosocial risks.
Crisis
- ESMO encourages the EU to ensure that provisions for sustainable cancer care services are integrated into global preparedness planning and responses to both pandemics and emergencies.