Working to improve the management of sarcoma patients across Europe: a policy checklist

Background: The Sarcoma Policy Checklist was created by a multidisciplinary expert group to provide policymakers with priority areas to improve care for sarcoma patients. Main body: This paper draws on this research, by looking more closely at how France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom are addressing each of these priority areas. It aims to highlight key gaps in research, policy and practice, as well as ongoing initiatives that may impact the future care of sarcoma patients in different European countries. A pragmatic review of the published and web-based literature was undertaken. Telephone interviews were conducted in each country with clinical and patient experts to substantiate findings. Research findings were discussed within the expert group and developed into five core policy recommendations. The five identified priority areas were: the development of designated and accredited centres of reference; more professional training; multidisciplinary care; greater incentives for research and innovation; and more rapid access to effective treatments. Most of the countries studied have ongoing initiatives addressing many of these priorities; however, many are in early stages of development, or require additional funding and resources. Conclusion: Gaps in access to quality care are particularly concerning in many of Europe’s lower-resourced countries. Equitable access to information, clinical trials, innovative treatments and quality specialist care should be available to all sarcoma patients. Achieving this across Europe will require close collaboration between all stakeholders at both the national and European level

Is the European Union Fighting the War for Children? The EU Policy on the Rights of Children Affected by Armed Conflict. College of Europe EU Diplomacy Paper 8/2010

More than two million child soldiers have died in conflicts throughout the world. The official response to this phenomenon, which involved devising international conventions, proved to be inadequate. During the past decade the European Union (EU) has been active in promoting the rights of children affected by armed conflict (CAAC). This paper examines to what extent the EU is determined to promote the rights of CAAC, especially through its development policy and to what degree this determination is translated into concrete action. The central position of this paper is that, even though the EU possesses all the mechanisms needed in order to promote the rights of CAAC, implementation lags behind the declared targets. There are both politically and operationally important reasons explaining the divergence between rhetoric and action, namely, the lack of political will by EU member states as well as the low level of funding allocated to CAAC and the absence of an effective monitoring system