The COVID-19 vaccination programme is gathering pace across Europe and the world, bringing hope that soon we will bring the pandemic under control. This will mean that cancer treatments will be able to become top priority again after this damaging period. In this issue of the EONS Newsletter we look to the future, with an inspiring message from our new President, Johan De Munter, and a warm welcome for the launch of Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan. You will also learn about some of the excellent educational opportunities offered by EONS, including our new Safety webinars, Advanced Breast Cancer webinar and the renowned EONS Masterclass. Finally, please don’t forget to renew your EONS membership and, if you’re not yet a member, we’d love you to join us! |
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| THE WORLD WE WANT TO BUILD – EONS PRESIDENT JOHAN DE MUNTER |
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EONS’ new President Johan De Munter has set out his exciting plans for the future of our organisation. In an inspiring statement of his outline aims and ambitions for his presidency, he says: ‘I believe that we can learn so much from each other and grow together; working towards common goals in the best interest of all EONS members, our stakeholders and for the benefit of all cancer patients and their caregivers, across Europe and beyond. So, with an ongoing commitment to inclusivity, I will foster close collaborations with our members, partners and stakeholders in order to further scientific development, increase knowledge and integrate a culture of professionalism and innovation. To help address the wide spectrum of demands that come with this responsibility, we will continue influencing our legislators about the significant importance of the recognition of cancer nursing in the healthcare community.’ Read the full statement |
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| CANCER NURSES AT THE HEART OF EUROPE’S BEATING CANCER PLAN |
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On 3 February, the European Commission launched Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan (EBCP) to tackle the cancer burden in Europe. The European Commission hopes to bring healthcare professionals, scientists, academia, policy-makers and stakeholders together for the implementation of the plan in EU Member States. As 40% of all cancers in Europe are preventable, the plan prioritises screening programmes, promoting the European Code Against Cancer and sharing useful information around healthy lifestyles and cancers. The plan introduces the creation of a EU network of National Comprehensive Cancer Centres and Knowledge Centres on Cancer to share knowledge and provide focal points for specialist care. A Cancer Inequalities Registry will identify such inequalities and, specialised training programmes will be introduced for healthcare professionals to eliminate disparities in cancer care. The EONS President, Johan de Munter, has the following to say about the Cancer Plan: ''Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan is the EU’s response to the growing challenges and developments in cancer control across Europe. The plan promises a political commitment to leave no stone unturned in the fight against cancer in key areas like prevention, early detection, diagnosis and treatment, and quality of life of cancer patients and survivors. Cancer nurses, the largest group cancer care professionals within cancer care, have a key role in all the above-mentioned areas. Unfortunately, there is a great discrepancy in the education and recognition of cancer nursing professionals across Europe. This inequality is a major barrier to Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan ensuring a more secure, better prepared and resilient EU in the fight against cancer. To realise the full potential of the ECBP flagship, supporting actions for the cancer nursing community should be included as equal partners in education and research projects, as well receiving financial and technical support from the EU4Health programme. I would like to invite you to read Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan and work with us to strengthen and support the EU cancer nursing community, cancer patients, survivors, their families and carers.'' |
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| EONS PRESIDENT-ELECT AND BOARD ELECTION RESULTS |
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Voting for a new EONS President-Elect and EONS Board members closed on 28 January. We are delighted to inform you of the results as follows: President-Elect: Virpi Sulosaari (Finland), Executive Board Members: Merel van Klinken (The Netherlands) and Wendy McInally (Scotland, UK). The EONS membership confirmed the result and the appointments at a special online EONS General Meeting on 16 February. Find out more |
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| EONS PATIENT AND OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY WEBINARS – FREE |
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This free education programme, developed for EONS by a group of leading cancer nursing experts, is aimed at clinical cancer nurses across Europe at all stages of their career. Registration for the first webinar on occupational safety and pregnancy/breastfeeding, April 26 at 18:30-20:00 is now open! The full education programme covers different aspects of patient and occupational safety in cancer care. Four webinars will cover the following topics: Webinar 1 Handling cancer drugs during pregnancy and breast feeding Webinar 2 Personal Protection Equipment Webinar 3 Safety Culture Webinar 4 Effective communication, key to safe cancer care Each webinar will include lectures by leading experts, discussions, Q and A and reflections from cancer nurses across Europe. The webinars will be live (but with lectures pre-recorded to allow for sub-titles in different languages). Registered students will have access for all content six months after each live session. Documentation is provided (both regulatory documents, guidelines and published research) for each webinar. The webinars will be followed by an online test, based on both the webinars and provided literature, for nurses requesting a certificate with recommended credits. Register Now |
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| EXCITING OPPORTUNITIES TO WORK WITH EONS |
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Project Administrator Are you motivated, enthusiastic and committed to supporting professionals working with people living with cancer across Europe? This is a great opportunity to work with us to make a difference to the lives of people living with and beyond cancer. EONS is seeking to recruit a Project Administrator for a fixed term from March 2021 to March 2022. This post will support the development of two EONS initiatives: The EONS College of Cancer Nursing (ECCN) and the EONS Cancer Nursing Fund. Deadline for applications has been extended to 3 March. Find out more EONS Advocacy Working Group seeks a new member Are you a cancer nurse? Do you want to make a difference and influence policy issues? Would you like to be a voice for cancer nursing at European level? The EONS Advocacy Working Group currently has one vacancy for a new member. EONS Advocacy Working Group are mainly engaged in: - Analysing and communicating both the value and challenges in cancer nursing across Europe
- Impacting EU, WHO, national organisations and other stakeholders to better recognise cancer nursing as an important means to reduce the burden of and prevent cancer
- Suggesting solutions and providing leadership for better recognition of cancer nursing across Europe
- Raising awareness on the importance of patient and occupational safety in cancer care
- Collecting information related to policy/legislation and cancer nursing
- Establishing collaborative relationships with other stakeholders
Should you be interested in joining, please provide a maximum two-page CV and letter of interest, including reasons for wanting to join the group and a summary of what you would bring to it, to Rudi Brike at eons.secretariat@cancernurse.eu. Details of experience from previous documented policy work are welcome. Deadline March 05, 2021 Find out more |
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EONS ADVANCED BREAST CANCER WEBINAR –
VIEW NOW! |
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EONS educational Webinar on Advanced Breast Cancer (ABC)took place as a live event on Monday, 22 February, 2021. The 90-minute webinar provided an overview of advanced breast cancer types, treatment options, usual sites of metastases and how to manage symptoms and continue to live well. You can now view the webinar on YouTube. |
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| 13th ESO-EONS MASTERCLASS IN ONCOLOGY NURSING – 7-11 JULY IN TALLINN, ESTONIA |
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Following the cancellation of the 2020 ESO EONS Masterclass in Oncology Nursing due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are now delighted to be able to announce that the 13th ESO-EONS Masterclass will now (hopefully) take place in Tallinn, Estonia, from 7-11 July 2021. The Masterclass will be held in parallel with the ESO-ESMO Baltic and Eurasia Masterclass in Clinical Oncology, to allow learning exchange among nurses and doctors. The Masterclass aims to prepare cancer nurses for future senior roles and enhance their clinical knowledge in the management of the cancer patient during all phases of the cancer journey.
Find out more |
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BE PART OF SOMETHING BIG –
JOIN EONS/RENEW YOUR MEMBERSHIP |
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EONS is a pan-European not for profit society made up of approximately 23,000 cancer nurses from 32 countries. EONS provides leadership in all areas of cancer nursing, research, practice, continued professional development (CPD) communications and advocacy for better recognition of cancer nursing across Europe. We welcome any new members joining the great cancer nursing community that is EONS! If you are already an individual, society or associate member, we look forward to receiving your fees for the coming year, if possible before the end of March 2021, and to working together in 2021 to further EONS’ mission and goals. Updated information regarding rates and a registration form are available in the membership section of the EONS website and email reminders have been sent out. Find out more |
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| ECND2021 – SAVE THE DATE! |
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European Cancer Nursing Day (ECND) will take place on 18 May 2021. This exciting flagship EONS event will, due to COVID-19, take place online again this year. We will focus on the impact cancer nurses can have on preventing cancer. More details of this, and how you can join in, will be revealed soon. So, stay tuned and put this important date in your diary. It’s going to be a wonderful day when we will celebrate cancer nursing together throughout Europe. In the meantime, you can revisit a selection of pictures from ECND2020, when we campaigned on the issue of occupational and patient safety. Revisit ECND2020 |
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6th ABC CONFERENCE – 4-6 NOVEMBER,
LISBON, PORTUGAL |
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The Sixth Advanced Breast Cancer International Consensus Conference takes place from 4-6 November 2021, in Lisbon, Portugal. It is the major international conference for Advanced Breast Cancer (ABC) and a forum for sharing best clinical practices and the latest scientific updates in the field with the goal of improving outcomes for all patients with ABC. All topics will be presented from the perspective of a multidisciplinary and multi-professional approach, from basic research to clinical implementation. The conference will again close with a consensus session where discussion will focus on updating the ABC guidelines. Find out more |
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We are delighted to announce that, for the 4th year, EONS will be holding a 3-day nursing track alongside the ESMO Congress 2021. The conference theme will be Cancer Nursing: Towards a new era in cancer care. The conference will take place either as an online or hybrid event. Please mark your calendars and stay tuned for further information. In the meantime, why not visit last year’s conference, relive some of those memories and watch some of the sessions that you didn’t have a chance to experience at the time. Relive EONS13 |
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| EONS BECOMES OFFICIAL CAMPAIGN PARTNER OF THE EUROPEAN AGENCY FOR HEALTH AND SAFETY AT WORK |
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| WHO EUROPE ANNOUNCES UNITED ACTION AGAINST CANCER CAMPAIGN |
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On World Cancer Day on February 4, WHO Europe launched a pan-European movement named United Action Against Cancer with a call for actions at many levels – from the grassroots to governments – and a vision to eliminate cancer as a life-threatening disease. The WHO has developed a set of signature solutions – evidence-based, cost-effective policies and measures designed to achieve impact at the country level by offering guidance to policy-makers. These solutions cover the whole cancer continuum, from prevention and early detection through to diagnosis, treatment and palliative care. Evidence suggests that up to 30% of cancers are caused by preventable risk factors such as alcohol consumption and tobacco. Their message is that while individuals can take steps to reduce their risks, it is clear that national governments and policy-makers need to implement evidence-based policies to provide healthier options to citizens, focussing on investment in prevention rather than cure. |
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| EONS BACKS MANIFESTO FOR REPURPOSING DRUGS |
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| EONS has endorsed a Manifesto from the Anticancer Fund stressing the importance of repurposed cancer drugs to clinical practice and calling on EU policymakers to support unlocking this huge potential.
Find out more |
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| The Society on Sarcopenia, Cachexia and Wasting (SCWD) disorders is running a global assessment of educational needs in cancer cachexia. The project is called GENESIS CC (which stands for Global Educational Needs Evaluation: a Systematic Interprofessional Study in Cancer Cachexia). The project has a global coverage, including 3 regions (Europe, North America and Japan). Part of the assessment is a survey among as many healthcare professionals involved in the treatment of cancer patients as possible. The results of the survey will feed into a publication to be submitted to a scholarly journal.
Take the survey |
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| PANDEMIC IMPACT ON CANCER ‘CATASTROPHIC’ – WHO EUROPE |
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| The COVID-19 pandemic is having a "catastrophic" impact on cancer treatment, the World Health Organization's European branch warned on World Cancer Day (4 Feb), with cancer services disrupted in a third of countries in the region. "The impact of the pandemic on cancer in the region is nothing short of catastrophic," WHO Europe director Hans Kluge warned. Among the 53 member states in the UN agency's European region one in three countries has experienced partially or completely disrupted cancer services because of the strain COVID-19 has put on health systems and travel restrictions.
Read more |
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| FIND OUT ABOUT THE NEWEST CANCER MEDICINES |
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| The European Medicine’s Agency website offers useful information on the 10 newest and recently updated medicines authorised for the treatment of cancer in the European Union (EU) and the most recent opinions on anti-cancer medicines that are pending authorisation by the European Commission (EC). The site also lists relevant news and events.
Read more |
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EONS occupational safety and pregnancy/breastfeeding webinar, at 18:30-20:00, 26 April 2021
Register Now
13th ESO-EONS Masterclass Tallinn, Estonia, 7-11 July 2021
Find out more
European Cancer Nursing Day (ECND), 18 May 2021
Save the Date
Sixth Advanced Breast Cancer International Consensus Conference, 4-6 November 2021, Lisbon, Portugal
Find out more
EONS14 at ESMO 2021 (online or hybrid), 17-21 September 2021
Save the Date |
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