Learning From Progress Addressing Cancer in Europe (OBS-PACE)
With Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan (EBCP), the European Commission follows a new approach to cancer prevention, treatment and care. The action ‘OBS-Learning From Progress In Addressing Cancer In Europe’ (OBS-PACE) contributes to this by improving the understanding of the national cancer control situation and policy actions in EU Member States.
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From Policy to Practice: Advancing Cancer Control at the European Public Health Conference
OBS-PACE, together with Sciensano (Belgium) and the National Institute of Public Health (Slovenia), organized a workshop at the European Public Health Conference. The session focused on how European Union Member States are translating Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan (EBCP) into tangible national improvements across the full continuum of care, from prevention and early detection to treatment and survivorship.
The lifetime risk (0-74 years) to be diagnosed with cancer is 30% for men and 25% for women according to 2024 estimates. To address these projections and advance cancer care across Europe, the discussion showcased findings from two complementary EU-funded initiatives: the OriON Joint Action (OriON-JA) and Learning from Progress in Addressing Cancer in Europe (OBS-PACE). While the OriON-JA presented a monitoring framework developed through Delphi consultations to track EBCP uptake across 17 countries, the OBS-PACE team introduced a new qualitative tool designed to capture practical insights from innovative actions in cancer research, care, and policy.
A central theme that emerged from the talks was the importance of health systems in cancer control. Participants explored how foundational health system functions—such as governance, financing, service delivery, and resource generation, including the health workforce—shape the success of cancer strategies. By examining enablers and barriers, OBS-PACE aims to provide country-level insights that help policy-makers and practitioners move beyond headlines to understand what is truly happening on the ground.
Takeaways from the session included:
● Stakeholder Inclusion: Monitoring the impact of the EBCP requires a systematic stock-taking of national experiences and the active involvement of all stakeholders, especially patients, to ensure policies are relevant and impactful.
● Knowledge Exchange: Sharing cross-country learnings regarding best practices and implementation challenges is essential for enhancing the effectiveness and equity of cancer control efforts.
● Addressing Inequalities: A core objective of these collaborative projects is to reduce disparities and promote health equity both within and between European countries.
● Evidence-Informed Decisions: Utilizing tools like the 40 published OBS-PACE case studies allows for smarter, more targeted investment decisions in the field of non-communicable diseases.
The workshop was moderated by Marie Delnord (Belgium) and Florian Tille (Germany), featuring expert contributions from Giada Scarpetti (European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies/TU Berlin), Beatrice Durvy (European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies/TU Berlin), Robbe Saesen (Sciensano), Marjetka Jelenc (NIJZ).
ℹ️ Led by the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies with the support of the European Commission (DG SANTE), the OBS-PACE project aims to cover all EU Member States and relies on a network of national experts to track progress as well as potential challenges across the cancer care continuum. Through its focus on identifying health system enablers and barriers, the project provides a mechanism for countries to learn from one another, ultimately building more effective and equitable efforts to control cancer at both national and European levels.
Policy Brief on Reducing Inequalities in Cancer Care published
Cancer incidence and prevalence across Europe are projected to increase substantially, yet substantial inequalities continue to shape access to, and outcomes from, cancer care.
This policy brief examines how core health system functions influence equity across the cancer care continuum in the European Union. Drawing on a rapid review of the literature and selected country case studies, it explores the roles of governance, financing, service delivery, and resource generation in addressing cancer-related inequalities, in alignment with Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan (EBCP).
The brief highlights common barriers, including financial constraints, regulatory complexity, workforce shortages, and the exclusion of vulnerable populations, alongside system-level enablers such as strategic EU alignment, participatory governance, and digital readiness.
Have a read and gain policy-relevant insights into how integrated, evidence-informed health system approaches can support more equitable, sustainable, and person-centred cancer care across Europe.
"Find the policy brief here."
Workshop on PACE at the European Health Management Conference 2025
The OBS-PACE team facilitated a workshop titled “Sharing learnings from advancing cancer research, care, and policies in the EU” at the EHMA conference 2025, presenting recent insights on the OBS-PACE project, new case studies and cross-cutting analysis.
The discussion was dedicated to showing how EU countries are translating Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan into action and saw participants exchange knowledge and cross-country expertise in implementing innovative actions. Contributions came from all over the EU - with examples from Ireland, Malta, Slovakia and the Netherlands - and reached across the full Cancer Care Pathway, from prevention, screening, diagnostics and genome sequencing to innovative drug treatment and improved triage that can relieve the burden on emergency care.
Key contributions pointed out that successful implementation requires:
ℹ️ This European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies project led with the support of the European Commission (DG SANTE) aims at improving the understanding of the national cancer control situation and policy actions across the EU. Through a collection of case studies and cross-cutting analysis, OBS-PACE provides key insights on the implementation of innovative actions against cancer.
Breaking barriers: addressing inequalities in cancer prevention and care
On 17 June 2025, the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies hosted a webinar session dedicated to addressing inequalities in cancer prevention and care. The event featured a keynote on OBS-PACE as an example of strengthening cancer research and care through cross-country collaboration. The main panel involved speakers from multiple EU countries and high-level institutions such as DG SANTE (European Commission), followed by an interactive Q&A session from the audience.
At its core, the Learning from Progress in Addressing Cancer in Europe (OBS-PACE) project builds on an international network of cancer experts to identify good practices, barriers and enablers to inform EU and national cancer policies and investments. This online webinar presented learnings from this action by focusing on innovative cancer-related policies, while taking a closer look at the health system enablers and barriers that shaped their implementation so that countries can learn from vital experiences. You can now watch it online on our website or YouTube channel.
With thanks to Béatrice Durvy (European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies & Technical University Berlin, Germany), Antun Aboud (University Hospital Centre Zagreb, Croatia), Lidia Villanova (Alliance Against Cancer, Italy), Maria Gillespie (Health Service Executive, Ireland), Domenico Fiorenza Glanzmann (DG SANTE, European Commission) as well as Florian Tille (European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies) and Louise Junge (Technical University Berlin) for moderating the session.
This webinar was part of an Observatory Spotlight Series on beating cancer in Europe called “Breaking Barriers”, out of which two more webinars have been made available.
Network meeting
In March 2025, the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies hosted a network meeting in Brussels with Sciensano (the National Public Health Institute of Belgium) dedicated to the EU-funded OBS-PACE Project: “OBS-Learning from Progress in Addressing Cancer in Europe”.
National and international cancer experts from ministries of health, public health institutes, cancer societies, patient organizations and academia all across the EU gathered to discuss published case studies and outline the next steps of the OBS-PACE project. Attendees looked at initiatives in cancer care and policies at local, regional and national levels, and collectively explored opportunities for cross-country collaboration within the project.
After opening remarks by the Observatory’s director Ewout van Ginneken along with Vittoria Carraro (DG SANTE) and Tit Albreht (OriON Joint Action), participants shared case studies of cancer activities developed in their countries and brainstormed on cross-country themes in cancer research, care and policies. Topics included:
- next generation case studies of innovative actions in cancer research, care and policy;
- country activities in defined areas such as cancer prevention, early detection and diagnostics, cancer care and quality of life; and
- future directions for the project, including the launch of OBS-PACE website and a presentation into its features, framework and resources.
This meeting was held with the support of EU Health and Food Safety European Commission and OriON Joint Action and represented a key opportunity for the Observatory to continue building on its contributions to Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan (EBCP), national cancer mission hubs and the EU Cancer Mission overall.
OBS PACE Network meeting
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