European Action Against Rare Cancers

Today, ESMO together with the European Organization for Rare Diseases (Eurordis), the European Cancer Patient Coalition (ECPC), Conticanet, the Association of European Cancer Leagues (ECL), the Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia Support Group, the International Brain Tumour Alliance (IBTA), Orphanet, Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia Advocates Network and the European Institute of Oncology (EIO) and as well as nine industry sponsors, celebrate the launch of their new joint initiative European Action Against Rare Cancers.

The campaign calls for implementation of the Political Recommendations on Stakeholder Actions and Public Policies which emerged from ESMO’s conference ’Rare Tumours in Europe: Challenges and Solutions’, held in Brussels in November 2008.

While the campaign welcomes the European Commission’s new Communication on Cancer that is launched on 24 June, as well as the recent European policy initiatives on rare diseases, European Action Against Rare Cancers urges European policy-makers to prioritise rare cancers within these frameworks.

With this goal, European Action Against Rare Cancers has established a Call to Action – an international petition, with an appeal to policy-makers and all other relevant stakeholders to initiate targeted actions that will address the challenges that rare cancers entail for patients who live with a rare cancer and for clinicians and researchers who specialise in this field.

Please visit the Web site and sign the Call to Action at www.rarecancers.eu.