In context of the World Cancer Day on 4 February, COST organised the webinar Beating cancer by 2030: mission impossible? on 28 January 2021. More than 200 participants joined this interactive event aimed at contributing to the global effort to fight this disease and support the future implementation of the EU Mission on Cancer.
Lead academic scientists, policy makers and patient representatives presented their views on how to implement the Mission Cancer Report, which was delivered in September 2020.
Ronald de Bruin, Director of the COST Association, welcomed all the participants amongst which there was Maria da Graça Carvalho, Member of the European Parliament, who is also part of the MEPs against Cancer.
MEP Da Graça Carvalho said that “Horizon Europe is the most concrete tool that we have to increase our chances to beat this disease. (…) The Mission on Cancer has a very ambitious target: saving more than 3 million lives by 2030. (…) Organisations such as COST, designed to connect research activities across Europe and to bring together our brightest minds, will also have a very significant part to play in the quest of a more cooperative ecosystem and in the Cancer Mission.”
Other policy makers like Tina Bregant, Head of the Cabinet of the Ministry of Health, Slovenia and Walter Ricciardi, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Rome, Italy and Chair of the EU Mission on Cancer also participated in the webinar.
The key Cancer stakeholders were represented by Matti Aapro (European Cancer Organisation), Chrissie Brierley (Joint Programming Initiative – A Healthy Diet for a Healthy Life), Kjersti Flatmark (Oslo University Hospital and Chair of a COST Action dealing with a rare cancer), Daniel Ortega (Imdea Nanociencia and leader of a COST Action on magnetic hyperthermia for cancer therapy) and Chiara Riganti (University of Torino and leader of a COST Action multidrug resistant tumours).
Watch the webinar on YouTube:
The Mission on Cancer is one of the 5 missions identified by Horizon Europe, aiming at promoting more impactful research results while engaging citizens in a common European goal. Its implementation is challenging as it must remain focused, time-bound, guaranteeing cross-sector fertilisation and cutting-edge innovation. In addition, robust governance and control mechanisms will have to be put in place. The granularity of the European research landscape and the current fragmentation of public research and health policies constitute a colossal trial for the Cancer Mission’s success.
This webinar follows a COST Connect event on the future of European cancer research, Beating cancer in 2030: mission impossible? (May 2019). The conclusions of this past event were reported in an open access publication.
