Best Practices Identified From the Analysis of 8 European Countries’ National Cancer Plans

OBJECTIVES: A National Cancer Plan (NCP) is an essential basis for a country’s roadmap against cancer. For countries that aspire in designing a NCP, “mapping” best practices, successfully implemented in other countries, could serve as springboard for national dialogue. Aim of this study is to provide best practices identified via the analysis of 8 NCPs in the EU, which could be leveraged across member states.

METHODS: Out of the 20 EU countries with active NCPs, the plans of Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Italy, Poland, Romania, Slovenia & Spain were analysed, based on their appropriateness as benchmark for Greece, experience on cancer strategy implementation and vision for the fight against cancer. Deep-diving in the NCPs, several best practices were identified. To categorize them and assess alignment with EU goals, Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan (EBCP) 4 key pillars were used as guide (Prevention, Early detection, Diagnosis & Treatment, Patients/Survivors’ QoL improvement). Four additional pillars were created (Patients’ engagement, Monitoring, Research, Pediatric cancers) according to the frequency in which best practices appeared across countries.

RESULTS: Among the 30+ best practices, ~70% referred to national actions aligned with EBCP pillars, with the majority related to “Diagnosis & Treatment” (e.g. Romania’s separate appointment’s list to minimize waiting time or Spain’s improved performance when concentrating surgeries) and “Early detection” (e.g. France’s “mammobiles” or Czech Republic’s ad-board of experts per screening program). The remaining ~30% related to the additional 4 categories. Five best practices on “Patients’ engagement”, (participation in NCP planning in Belgium & Italy) and three on “Monitoring” of plans’ implementation, for example by specific bodies (Slovenia).

CONCLUSIONS: The analysis showed significant alignment among individual countries’ and EU cancer priorities, underlining the impact of EU frameworks like EBCP at national level. Identified best practices could be leveraged from countries aiming to design a robust National Cancer Plan, such as Greece.