Fostering Collaboration: EU Funded Projects on NCD Prevention Meet to Identify Synergies

A joint meeting was organised by the JA PreventNCD (Joint Action Prevent Non-Communicable Diseases) and co-hosted by the European Alliance on Alcohol Policy (Eurocare) together with the four Open Call Action Grants on cancer and other NCDs prevention. 35 people met at the Norway House in Brussels on 9 April to explore collaboration pathways amongst these five ambitious initiatives. An additional 35 people participated virtually, making it a successful hybrid meeting.  

Attendees included representatives from the Smoke Free Partnership, European Heart Network, Norwegian Directorate of Health, the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Eurocare, FRCB - IDIBAPS, Fondazione Istituto Nazionale Dei Tumori, and the Hungarian Charity Service of the Order of Malta.

NCDs account for 80% of the disease burden in the European Union, and contribute to approximately two thirds of all fatalities in the broader European region. However, only 3% of national health budgets are allocated to initiatives aimed at promoting health and preventing diseases. Enhancing efforts in health promotion and disease prevention could potentially reduce NCD prevalence by up to 70%, including cancers, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and chronic lung disease. The JA PreventNCD project focus on strategies and policies aimed at reducing this preventable burden of disease by addressing both individual and societal risk factors, in alignment with Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan and the 'Healthier Together – EU NCD Initiative'.

Four Action Grants are included in JA preventNCD: ELISAH, PEACHD, Showup4Health, and of course FILTERED led by Eurocare. These initiatives, are part of the EU4health projects, and aim to complement the efforts of JA PreventNCD by supporting the development and implementation of best practices within cancer and NCD prevention. During the meeting, each project mapped and presented potential areas for collaboration , enriching the following group discussions, which took place in the second half of the meeting.

After several fruitful discussions, over many cups of coffee and tea, each group defined concrete synergies among the projects to potentially maximise their impact through effective collaboration, including ways to keep each other informed, share material, and pool resources for joint events.  

The meeting concluded with a summary of key takeaways and next steps, emphasising the importance of ongoing collaboration and communication to achieve shared goals of preventing cancer and NCDs within Europe.

From Left to Right: Eurocare Secretary General presenting the Filtered project, Q&A session and afternoon workshop.