EU-CiP gains momentum at key events in Brussels

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With the beginning of March, not only does winter end, but we at EU-CiP begin broadly sharing our project and collecting feedback from relevant stakeholders. This is key to building a portal that closely meets the needs of users for helpful and reliable cancer information. With this mission, Harald Wagener from BIH@Charité visited Brussels for no less than four cancer events designed to connect.

2nd of March started with a half day event hosted by DG RTD: The 5th workshop of the EU Cancer Mission dialogue with AYA (Adolescents and Young Adults) patients. Here, Harald  presented EU-CIP as one of seven projects and connected with representatives from PEARL, MAYA, PanCare4AYA, PredictAYA, TranscendXR and YARN. The dialogue with AYA workshops started as part of the EU Cancer Mission’s citizens engagement activities and launched an ongoing dialogue with young cancer survivors to better understand the specific needs and challenges faced during and after treatment.

This goal was shared by the participants of the EU Cancer Mission Quality of Life (AYA) Cluster Kick-off Meeting on 3 March. The QoL (Aya) cluster is a collaboration of Horizon Europe projects that work together to improve the quality of life of adolescents and young adults dealing with cancer. The cluster addresses long-term consequences of cancer and its treatment. This is particularly relevant for young patients and survivors as it can strongly impact physical and mental well-being throughout their lives.

Representing EU-CiP, Harald was also invited as panelist at the #EUHPP Live Webinar on „Cancer Mission Quality of Life (Patient Centered Care and Adolescent Young Adult). This webinar brought together stakeholder and citizen perspectives on research and innovation to provide an early exposure to the cluster projects launched under the Cancer Mission.

Final stop on this tour was the ECHoS business lunch where Harald met the friendly faces of the ECHoS project. ECHoS sets the foundations for the creation of a future European Network of National Cancer Mission Hubs (NCMHs) with the ambition to be a strong and cohesive network aligned with the EU Mission: Cancer and Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan (EBCP).

While we are building the EU Cancer Information Portal we look forward to connecting with many more people and initiatives along the way. Getting input and advice from our diverse stakeholders helps us tailor the portal to the needs of the users. EU-CIP will thus continue in the spirit of the ECPDC operational study’s First Tenet: Patients first.