Welcome to PrEvCan – Cancer Prevention Across Europe
The ground-breaking, Europe-wide “Cancer Prevention Across Europe” campaign (PrEvCan) is aimed at reducing the burden of cancer.
The PrEvCan campaign is initiated and led by the European Oncology Nursing Society (EONS) with the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) as key campaign partner and the support of more than 60 other international and national organisations across Europe (see clickable map below on this page).
PrEvCan was launched at the opening of the ESMO Congress in Paris, in September 2022, marked with a special ESMO 22/EONS 15 collaborative policy session between ESMO, EONS and ECPC on 11 September, looking at the oncology workforce in the frontline for cancer prevention across Europe. The session highlighted cancer prevention from several different perspectives (cancer nursing, medical oncology and patients) as well as from the standpoint of the European union’s political agenda.
The campaign is based on the European Code Against Cancer (ECAC) which sets out 12 recommendations ranging from physical activity and dietary guidelines all the way to tobacco use and second-hand smoke.
Over a period of 12 months starting from October 2022, each month is dedicated to promoting one of these recommendations and highlighting the scientific evidence supporting it, with the dual objective of increasing awareness of how to prevent cancer among the general public and of providing healthcare professionals with a more comprehensive toolkit for communicating the importance of cancer prevention effectively.
In September, our PrEvCan campaign theme is – Take part in organised cancer screening programmes
Key messages for the healthcare professionals:
Always ask your patients if they attended available screening programmes. If not, person-centered support, including involving their significant other, may increase the likelihood of attending. Breast, cervical and bowel cancer screening should be available for the target population across Europe. New screening programmes for other types of cancer need to be implemented and evaluated to reduce the cancer burden across Europe.
Key messages for the general public:
Cancer screening saves lives, always attend cancer screening, when invited. Early detection of cancer greatly increases the chances for successful outcome. Take part in organised cancer screening programmes for: Bowel cancer (men and women) Breast cancer (women) Cervical cancer (women).
* Please download the toolkit for this campaign by clicking on ‘Toolkit for September‘ in the Further Information column. This will take you through to the resources page where you can download the toolkit in your own language.
NEW VIDEO – Raising awareness around HPV infection, cancer risk and vaccination: PrEvCan | Daniel Kelly
Prof. Daniel Kelly discusses the relationship between HPV infection and various types of cancer and the importance of vaccination for all.
PrEvCan – Join the virtual challenge that will take you from Paris 2022 to Madrid 2023!
Our PrEvCan partner ESMO is inviting you to participate in a challenge that will virtually guide you from Paris (the location of the 2022 Congress) to Madrid by biking or walking (for real) the kilometres that are between the two congress cities as we approach the EONS23 / ESMO 2023 event this October.
Find out more and engage with others taking the virtual challenge at #PrEvCan; #BeAnActiveMember
Log in to share the kilometres you’ve biked/walked and collectively reach the target.
Physical activity is a key part of cancer prevention and a theme that we focused on in January this year. Download the toolkit from the Further Information column on this page.
Sun safety this summer
During the summer, it’s a good idea to keep our messages about sun safety uppermost in our minds (our April campaign theme).
Febe DeFrancq and Hanne DeJongh, exchange students at the Tallinn Healthcare Collage, Estonia, have made a striking poster to remind us of the dangers and show why it is so important to protect yourself against UV exposure?
UV exposure increases your cancer risk. This campaign poster will show you how your skin might get damaged if you are not careful enough.
Better safe than sorry! Stay safe in the sun!
Share what you are doing to support the PrEvCan campaign – post photos and short videos on social media, tagging: #PrEvCan #CANCERCODE @cancernurseEU
We invite our PrEvCan supporting partners to help make a difference on these important issues by using the Toolkit resources. Download lots of great tools in the Further Information column on this page on the whole range of PrEvCan month-by-month campaigns. All campaign resources in your own language can be found by clicking on ‘Tookit for [month]’ in the Further Information section on the right-hand side of this web page.
There are also lots of videos available to help you spread the PrEvCan messages.
Let us know what you are doing in YOUR country
Don’t forget to use the Activity Form to let us know what you are doing in your country.
You will find reports in the Further Information column (under ‘Campaign Reports’) about the exciting PrEvCan plans underway in Estonia, Finland and Greece, which may help inspire your own campaign actions.
Do you want to learn more cancer prevention? Cancer Prevention Europe (CPE) provides online certified and non-certified learning modules to build capacity and support knowledge transfer on cancer prevention from leading experts in the field. EONS is Affiliate Member of CPE, and recommends these useful resources for the PrEvCan campaign partners.
Find out more.
*When promoting PrEvCan on social media, please use the campaign hashtags #PrEvCan #CANCERCODE and tag us on Twitter, @cancernurseEU.
Map – click on each country to see the logos of PrEvCan supporting partners
Download full list of PrEvCan supporting partners
Pan-European Partners
ESMO
ECPC
Onco-Alert
Youth Cancer Europe
International Sport and Culture Association
Coalition of healthcare
professionals against tobacco