European Week Against Cancer 2026: EU4Health projects working to reduce cancer inequalities

Every year, the European Week Against Cancer raises awareness about the importance of cancer prevention and care. Tackling inequalities in cancer, from its prevention to diagnosis and care, is key to ensuring that all patients across Europe can benefit from the efforts of our collective fight against cancer.  

Reducing cancer inequalities across the EU is, thus, included as one of the cross-cutting objectives in Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan (EBCP) and its flagship initiatives. Among these initiatives: 

• The Cancer Inequalities Registry (ECIR) has been set up, further supported by OriON JA and EU-CanIneq.
• The establishment of the European Network of Comprehensive Cancer Centres will ensure that 90% of eligible patients have access to such centres of excellence by 2030, no matter where they live. To reach this goal, the EUnetCCC JA is building upon the groundwork laid by CraNE JA.
• The ‘Cancer Diagnostic and Treatment for All’ initiative will help optimise cancer diagnosis and treatment and reduce unequal access to personalised medicine in cancer care. Contributing to this initiative are JA PCM, CAN.HEAL and SPARC. 

Since 2021, 70 cancer projects have been co-funded by the EU4Health programme and launched as part of the EBCP. Out of these, 58 projects (in the visual at the bottom) address inequalities in prevention, early detection, diagnosis and treatment, and quality of life and survivorship. Here is a selection of these projects. 

Prevention 

In the area of prevention, the Joint Action PreventNCD supports strategies to reduce the burden of cancer and other non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Its work includes the review of actions and policies addressing avoidable inequalities as well as specific pilot actions targeting health inequalities. 

Furthermore, CURTAIN, CHOICE, BCLEAR, iNTERVENE, CLEAR-PC are carrying out complementary activities to address inequalities by improving cancer literacy and enhancing access to quality cancer prevention and care. These projects focus on cancer health literacy for citizens, patients and healthcare professionals, often creating digital tools, virtual libraries and tailored campaigns to reach disadvantaged populations. The latter includes people living in structurally weak regions with less access to medical care, hard-to-reach groups and those with low digital or general literacy.  

Early detection 

The Joint Action EUcanScreen ensures the implementation of high-quality screening for breast, cervical and colorectal cancer and of the recently recommended screening programs for lung, prostate and gastric cancers. With the aim of reducing inequalities in access to cancer screening, it focuses on identifying and addressing barriers and facilitators at both the health-system level and the individual level.  

The project EUCervScreen QA is updating the European guidelines and quality assurance (QA) scheme for cervical screening. While developing these updates, it will consider inequalities that exist between and within countries in access to screening.  

Diagnosis and treatment 

The Joint Action JANE, concluded in 2024, paved the way to establish 7 European Networks of Expertise in Cancer, which consider addressing cancer inequalities as part of their work. The follow-up Joint Action JANE-2 is producing clinical practice guidelines, developing healthcare organisation models and producing educational tools for cancer medical professionals and patients.  

INTERACT-EUROPE 100 addresses inequalities in cancer care by improving inter-specialty training across a broad geographical scope, using translation and digital platforms to reach centres in resource-constrained and rural settings. 

Quality of Life and Survivorship 

YARN, the European Youth Cancer Network, addresses Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) through tools and initiatives such as surveys, toolkits, inclusivity training and certification systems. The project aims to identify underrepresented groups of young survivors and promote inclusive practices in healthcare, patient organisations and communication campaigns.  

HaDEA also managed an EU4Health contract to produce a study about job retention and return to work for cancer patients and survivors. The study mapped and assessed existing policy and legal measures in EU Member States and EEA EFTA States (Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway), and explored challenges and obstacles faced by those with a history of cancer in the work environment. 13 examples of measures that support job retention and return to work were identified, including some with a particular focus on young people, women and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). 

Overall, these projects and initiatives aim to reduce cancer inequalities across Europe by addressing systemic barriers, improving access to care and equity in prevention, diagnosis, treatment and survivorship.  

These projects are the proof that, to be effective, the fight against cancer inequalities must address the whole disease pathway and put in place several strategies, tackling data collection and monitoring, innovation and technology, health literacy and training, capacity-building and cross-border collaboration.   

Ahead of the European Week Against Cancer, the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety (SANTE) and HaDEA co-organised a webinar on cancer inequalities. The Joint Actions Hope4Kids, SHIELD and PCM JA and two other grants, Althea and SOLACE, took part to present how they are tackling inequalities in cancer prevention, diagnosis and care. 

Background  

EU4Health is the fourth and largest of the EU health programmes. The EU4Health programme goes beyond an ambitious response to the COVID-19 crisis to address the resilience of European healthcare systems. The programme provides funding to national authorities, health organisations and other bodies through grants and public procurement, contributing to a healthier Europe.   

HaDEA manages the vast majority of the total EU4Health budget and implements the programme by managing calls for proposals and tenders from 2021 to 2027.