Men’s Health Awareness Month: EU-funded projects promoting prevention and early detection of prostate cancer

November is Men’s Health Awareness Month, dedicated to raising awareness of men’s health issues.

Funded under the EU4Health programme, a number of projects managed by HaDEA are addressing specific health conditions experienced by men, including prostate cancer – the most frequently occurring male cancer in Europe and one of the deadliest cancers among men.

PRAISE-U focuses on early detection of prostate cancer through personalised and risk-based screening programmes, aligning screening protocols and guidelines across EU countries.

By designing a cost-effective algorithm for early detection of prostate cancer, the project is working to improve patient outcomes and reduce mortality linked to prostate cancer.

Since its launch in 2023, PRAISE-U has already achieved significant results. The project has developed a risk-based screening model for individualised, efficient and precise prostate cancer detection and pilots to test this model are well advanced. The project has also developed needs assessments and capacity evaluations to address gaps in healthcare services and screening practices. Collaboration among EU4Health projects has been key for the success of PRAISE-U, with active knowledge exchange between PRAISE-U and other EU initiatives such as CanScreen-ECIS, TOGAS, SOLACE and EUCanSCreen.

EUCanScreen is supporting the implementation of new, high-quality screening programmes for prostate cancer, among other cancers, that can be evidence-based and cost-effective. The project aims to significantly reduce the burden of prostate cancer by strengthening national screening programmes through the combination of cross-border expertise, the use of artificial intelligence (AI), the implementation of risk-based methods and the optimisation of resources.

CLEAR-PC addresses low health literacy related to prostate cancer prevention and care. The project is working on the creation of accessible educational materials for men at risk, targeted training for primary care professionals and the implementation of community initiatives to facilitate early prostate cancer detection. 

With the objective of providing representative and comprehensive results, CLEAR-PC uses a co-creation approach that brings together the general public, patients, healthcare professionals, educators and policy makers. 

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 calls for tenders from 2021 to 2027.