The COVID-19 pandemic has come at a time where great progress had been made in cancer care: although more people are being diagnosed with cancer, improvements in services and treatments have led to better outcomes.

COVID-19 has had an impact on every patient access milestone and will have a profound effect on patient outcomes if no action is taken to make up lost ground in screening, treatment and surgery.

The pandemic will change cancer care of the future. Our report “The Impact of COVID-19 on Patient Access to Cancer Care in Europe”, developed with a wide range of stakeholders, including patient organisations, healthcare providers, payers, HTA bodies and academic institutions, identified six recommendations to improve cancer care. In addition, Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan will include some of the learnings too. We would like to discuss the implications of COVID-19 on cancer care in the context of the EU Presidency Trio.

Confirmed speakers

Professor Christine Chomienne, Vice-Chair of the Mission Board Cancer at the European Commission
Robert Greene, Board Member of the European Cancer Patient Coalition
Tamara Hussong Milagre, President, EVITA - Hereditary Cancer 
Professor Christof von Kalle, Professor for clinical-translational sciences at the Berlin Institute of Health (BIH) and the Charité
Professor Mark Lawler, Professor of Digital Health at Queen’s University Belfast, Co-Chair of E.C.O’s Special Network on the Impact of Covid-19 on Cancer 
Dr. Ricardo Baptista Leite, Medical Doctor, Member of the Portuguese National Parliament 
Nathalie Moll, EFPIA Director General
Katie Rizvi, Co-Founder, Youth Cancer Europe
John Ryan, Deputy Director General, DG SANTE, European Commission

Join us on 25 June at 11:00 to discuss our recommendations and how we can work together to turn them into reality and transform cancer care.