The European Society for Paediatric Oncology (SIOP Europe)

Each year, more than 35,000 children and young people are diagnosed with cancer and more than 6,000 young patients die of cancer. there will be nearly half a million childhood cancer survivors by 2025. Over two-thirds of them experience long-term health and psychosocial problems due to their disease and treatment, which may be severe and affect their daily life and participation as eu citizens.

• The European Society for Paediatric Oncology (SIOP Europe, or SIOPE) is the only pan-European organisation representing all professionals working in the field of childhood cancers in partnership with parents, patients and survivors. With more than 2,300 members across 35 European countries, SIOPE’s mission is to ensure the best possible care and outcomes for all children and adolescents with cancer in Europe. To achieve this goal, SIOPE addresses the main challenges faced by European paediatric haematology-oncology professionals through a multidisciplinary and pan-European perspective

OUR PRINCIPAL GOALS AND OBJECTIVES ARE TO:

• Promote better policies for children with cancer and their specific needs and raise awareness of the numerous challenges faced by paediatric haematology-oncology professionals to EU policymakers.
• Foster multi-centre and multinational clinical trials, forming a common platform for best practice guidelines.
• Improve access to innovative new medicines and therapies and enhance regulatory paediatric medicine approval through enhanced collaboration with relevant stakeholders.
• Actively support the paediatric haematology-oncology community in Europe by carrying out EU-funded projects together with our international partners focusing on the implementation of the standards of care for children and young people with cancer.

The SIOPE Strategic Plan ‘A European Cancer Plan for Children and Adolescents’ presents our community’s key objectives towards achieving our Mission to ‘Cure more children, cure them better and reduce inequalities’. It identifi es several key areas where joint efforts are needed to improve the lives of childhood cancer patients and survivors.

RESEARCH

• Aiming at facilitating the development of new medicines and treatments for children and adolescents with cancer, SIOPE supports strong and integrated research programmes from basic science to clinical research, serving as a common European platform for paediatric oncology clinical trials.

CARE

• Standards of care in paediatric oncology can differ substantially from country to country. SIOPE addresses the relevant organisational aspects to improve access to high-quality care and expertise across Europe.

EDUCATION AND TRAINING

• SIOPE is a hub for professional education for paediatric haemato-oncologists through its ambitious training programmes and Annual Meeting.

EU ADVOCACY

• Contribute to EU policies and programmes, and engage with policymakers and other stakeholders to anticipate and proactively shape EU health and research policies on childhood cancer and survivorship issues, ensuring that paediatric oncology remains a high priority on the EU policy agenda.

KEY ACHIEVEMENTS

• Advocacy contributions towards flagship EU initiatives and reports including Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan and lighting up the European Parliament in gold on the occasion of Gold September – Childhood Cancer Awareness Month 2020.
• Established annual policy events on topical issues organised in partnership with MEPs.
• Led content-writing and formulation of policy recommendations on paediatric cancers to the ‘Rare Cancer Agenda 2030: Ten Recommendations from the EU Joint Action on Rare Cancers’, Sept 2019.
• Contributed to the development and current operations of the European Reference Network on Paediatric Cancer (ERN PaedCan).
• Established the SIOPE Annual Meeting as the go-to educational event for paediatric haemato-oncology in Europe.
• Developed the ‘European Standards of Care for Children with Cancer’ as a widely recognised reference document to evaluate progress in medicines development, treatment and care in the various paediatric cancer treatment centres across Europe, Oct 2009.
• Successfully submitted new paediatric cancer medicines and indications to the WHO 8th Essential Medicines List for Children, updated in Sept 2021.

https://siope.eu/media/documents/siop-europes-strategic-plan-update-2021-2026.pdf

https://worldspanmedia.s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/media/siope/PDF/SIOP-Manifesto-A5-vFINAL.pdf

https://siope.eu/media/documents/recommendations-for-paediatric-cancer-following-launch-of-the-pharmaceutical-strategy-for-europe.pdf

https://www.annalsofoncology.org/article/S0923-7534(20)43223-5/fulltext

https://jointactionrarecancers.eu/attachments/article/265/Rare_Cancer_Agenda_2030.pdf