EU Joint Action on Rare Cancers (JARC) & ERNs

The EU Joint Action on Rare Cancers kick-off meeting was held on November, 7th. The European Commissionner for Health, Vytenis Andriukaitis mentionned European Reference Networks in his speech, as the JARC will be cooperating with ERNs on Rare Cancers.

The EU Commissionner for Health pointed out:

“[ERNs] are an excellent example of a formal EU structure for voluntary collaboration in healthcare; they show that EU solidarity can make a real and positive difference to individual patients’ lives. […]  As the European Reference Networks system is completely new, there are still many areas to develop and challenges to overcome.

This new system needs full cooperation from all players across the spectrum to turn it into the reality for the patients who need it. We need commitment across health and healthcare, across research and information technologies, across the Commission and across national health ministries. Your contribution is paramount to its success.

I am happy to see that there is already a strong feeling of trust and ownership for the European Reference Networks model. This is crucial to get the networks up and running. Once we have achieved this, we need to use all the financial tools available to ensure they are sustainable. This includes grants under the Health Programme to support network coordinators, and funding from the Connecting Europe Facility to create the IT platform and online workspace. […]

Finally, let me assure you that, in addition to this Joint Action, the Commission will also support research into rare diseases, including rare cancers, via Horizon 2020 and through our Joint Research Centre’s patient registries.”

Read the entire speech here