News release in anticipation of International Childhood Cancer Day 2025
Brussels, 15 February 2025
The European childhood cancer community anticipates and celebrates International Childhood Cancer Day by addressing one of the most pressing challenges in paediatric oncology: cross-border access to care and research.
Kindly organised and hosted by MEP András Kulja (EPP, Hungary), this high-level policy event, held on 4 February at the European Parliament in Brussels to mark World Cancer Day, brings together policymakers, healthcare professionals, researchers, and patient advocates to discuss urgent barriers that limit equal access to high-quality care and innovation for children with cancer across Europe.
Bridging the gaps in cross-border care and research
Despite medical advances, survival rates and access to cutting-edge treatments still vary significantly across EU Member States. The discussions at ICCD event focused on three critical aspects:
- Cross-border access to high-quality care – Addressing obstacles in the Cross-border Healthcare Directive and S2 form, which currently limit access to innovative treatments such as CAR T-cell therapy.
- Cross-border access to research – Tackling the regulatory and logistical barriers that hinder EU-wide paediatric oncology clinical trials and prevent children from accessing potentially life-saving research outside their home countries.
- Training and capacity-building – Supporting twinning programmes and EU-wide training initiatives to equip healthcare professionals with the knowledge and skills necessary to reduce inequalities in care across Europe.
Key voices at the event
The event featured a distinguished lineup of speakers, including policymakers and leading experts in paediatric oncology.
- MEP András Kulja, host of the event, underscored the role of EU policies in breaking down existing barriers to cross-border healthcare and research: “The fight against childhood cancer must be fought together across countries, across sectors, across political parties.”
- Gilles Vassal (SIOPE Policy Lead, ITCC Former President) highlighted the urgent need to improve cross-border research facilitating access to clinical trials: “First of all, research benefits children. If we now have 80% survival rate for children with cancer in high income countries, it’s because research was integrated into care. Second, there are inequalities across Europe in accessing clinical trials, both academic and industry trials. Third, we need to have a cross-border initiative supportive access to early innovation, to be sure that all children and adolescents will have access to what they need”.
- Delphine Heenen (Patient Advocate, KickCancer CEO, CCI-E Committee Member) stressed the importance of ensuring equal access to treatment and clinical trials for all children, regardless of nationality: “Families should not have to work hard to convince their doctors to allow treatments elsewhere because they might fear to jeopardise their child’s care. We must ensure that every family can discuss the possibility of treatment abroad with a neutral third-party healthcare professional if it’s needed. Travelling abroad is sometimes a guarantee for better treatment, but it can entail financial and emotional burden for families.”
European Parliament, 4 February 2025
Other speakers included representatives from the European Commission (DG SANTE and DG RTD), MEPs Vlad Voiculescu (Renew, Romania), Vytenis Andriukaitis (S&D, LT), Tomislav Sokol (EPP, HR), Nicolas Gonzalez Casares (S&D, Spain), and experts from the European paediatric cancer community.
A call to action: We must act beyond ICCD
There’s an urgent need for concrete policy changes to ensure no child is left behind due to national borders or bureaucratic constraints. In anticipation of International Childhood Cancer Day, the childhood cancer community calls on EU decision-makers to prioritise cross-border collaboration, funding, and regulatory harmonisation to improve care and outcomes for young patients.
The discussion among all the various stakeholders was fruitful, with insightful interventions that highlighted the urgency of improving cross-border collaboration in childhood cancer care and research. If you are curious about the full length of the discussion, check out the event programme or the event recording on our YouTube channel.
ABOUT CCI Europe and SIOP Europe
Childhood Cancer International – Europe (CCI-E, or CCI Europe) represents childhood cancer parent and survivor groups as well as other childhood cancer organisations in Europe: 64 organisations in 35 European countries are members of CCI-E. CCI Europe works together with all relevant stakeholders for the same goal: help children and adolescents with cancer to be cured, with no – or as few as possible – long term health problems/late effects (www.ccieurope.eu).
The European Society for Paediatric Oncology (SIOPE, or SIOP Europe) is the single united European organisation representing all professionals working in the field of childhood cancers. With more than 2,700 members across 36 countries, SIOP Europe is leading the way to ensure the best possible care and outcomes for all children and adolescents with cancer in Europe (www.siope.eu).
Disclosures: Images and text were provided to touchONCOLOGY by the European Society for Paediatric Oncology (SIOPE, or SIOP Europe). No fees or funding were associated with this short publication.
ImageS: © 2025. European Society for Paediatric Oncology.
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