Third letter to our Community // 15 September 2010

Introduction

This month marks the mid-way point towards the 2015 deadline to achieve the Millennium Goals. World Leaders have consequently been called on to attend a summit in New York, 20 - 22 September to accelerate progress towards meeting the set of eight targets that collectively promise to eliminate extreme poverty worldwide.

While the End Poverty 2015 Millennium Campaign must undoubtedly be embraced and applauded, tackling the socioeconomic burden of chronic disease does not feature on the list. Having overtaken infectious diseases in developing countries, chronic diseases will also account for a dramatic increase in all deaths and disability worldwide in the coming decades.

Unless more is done now to prepare for the future the costly strain posed on all economies by chronic diseases such as cancer - already claiming around 50% of middle-aged deaths in industrialised countries, cardiovascular disease, chronic respiratory disease and diabetes will reverse some of the enormous good done by meeting the Millennium Goals.

Represented by Jan Willem Coebergh, Erasmus MC (Rotterdam, The Netherlands) and in partnership with other leading healthcare organisations ECCO is currently urging EU action on chronic disease:

Chronic Disease Alliance - campaigning for innovative measures towards prevention

The Chronic Disease Alliance calls for innovative measures aimed at addressing tobacco, poor diet, alcohol and lack of physical activity to prevent chronic diseases and protect the future health of the European population.

At the top of the list of chronic non-communicable diseases, cancer claims and touches the most lives. To discover more about the Alliance and who’s involved please click here.

Oncovideos: developing vocational skills in oncology through e-learning

As the multidisciplinary, mutliprofessional cancer organisation in Europe, ECCO’s Education led by Dirk Schrijvers, Ziekenhuisnetwerk Antwerpen (Antwerp, Belgium), focuses on initiatives of cross discipline appeal to promote multidisciplinarity and meet the scientific, educational and professional needs of oncology professionals.
 
As I alluded to in my July page, I am pleased to announce the launch of a new project set to enhance ECCO’s multidisciplinary educational portfolio: the Oncovideo collection.

This new project funded by the EU Leonardo da Vinci Programme will provide an on-line learning library of twenty four videos demonstrating standard procedures relating to the various oncology disciplines mainly: surgical oncology, radiotherapy, medical oncology, paediatric oncology and neuro-oncology.

Aimed at young oncologists in Europe, the videos - envisaged to go live at the beginning of 2011, will be accompanied by practical explanations made by experts in the specific subject area of each session and will be filmed in the seventeen cancer teaching partner institutions.

For more information on this exciting project along with the various e-learning features please click here.

 

ECCO ‘Classifieds’: post your jobs and events for free at:
www.ecco-org.eu

To help spread the news concerning your latest job opportunities, events and meetings, I would like to invite you to make use of our online free classifieds placement system. With between 150 - 200,000 unique visitors to our site per month, using ECCO’s post a job and Submit an Event sections will immediately increase exposure and visibility for your latest announcements across Europe and beyond.

In order to keep abreast of all the latest announcements, we encourage our web visitors to bookmark our Calendar of Events and Jobs web pages which are naturally updated as soon as we receive new postings.

Finally, I am particularly keen to invite your ideas surrounding our initiatives and programmes as well as suggestions as to other activities you feel should be on ECCO’s agenda. Please do contact us today via Email at: eccocommunications@ecco-org.eu.

For my November issue I will report on this year’s first Oncopolicy Forum, taking place Tuesday 26 October, (please see my previous President’s Page ‘Progressing Cancer Policy in Partnership’), as well as other exciting ECCO developments.

 

Michael Baumann, ECCO President