Lydia Makaroff, PhD, from the European Cancer Patient Coalition, introduces the coalition’s new position paper, “The Value of Innovation in Oncology”, at the European Cancer Congress of the European Cancer Organisation (ECCO) 2017 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The European Cancer Patient Coalition represents more than 400 cancer patient organizations across Europe. Dr Makaroff describes the new position paper, which contains cost effective and pragmatic recommendations for European institutions and EU member states to ensure cancer patients throughout Europe have access to innovative care, technologies and treatments. The European Cancer Patient Coalition recommends that the assessment of cost effectiveness within Europe should be centralized. Dr Makaroff argues that this is currently done individually in each EU member state, and that establishing one health technology assessment (HTA) and one efficacy body throughout Europe will results in cost savings and earlier access to treatments for patients. She emphasizes that patients should be central in implementing these recommendations. Each cancer patient has their own story to tell, but maintaining and analyzing records of all patients and optimizing care pathways will be beneficial to all patients.
