National Cancer Centre will promote patient equality

Establishing a National Cancer Centre took a major step forward on April 5, 2016 with the Government’s decision to provide funding for this purpose during the next four years. A working group appointed by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health will pave the way for the establishment of the National Cancer Centre.

The National Cancer Centre will be responsible for the coordination at national level of cancer research and the appropriate use of healthcare resources in cancer treatment. The objectives of national stewardship are to ensure that all patients have equal access to cancer care regardless of their place of residence, to promote research, quality of care and cost-effectiveness of treatment, and to contain the rising cost of medicines.

The National Cancer Centre will initially operate as a network of regional cancer centres. The regional centres will be established by universities and university hospital districts. Additionally, a national coordinating centre will be set up to coordinate the activities of the regional cancer centres.

The working group appointed by the Ministry will develop approaches for updating treatment guidelines and for integrating research into clinical care. The working group will also steer the collaboration of university hospital districts and universities in pilot projects.

The working group’s mandate is from 1 April 2016 to 31 December 2017. The working group will collaborate closely with the management group for the health sector research and innovation growth strategy, as well as with the parties steering the healthcare and social welfare reform package.

Inquiries:

Liisa-Maria Voipio-Pulkki, Director, tel. +358 295 163,382, firstname.lastname@stm.fi
Jaakko Yrjö-Koskinen, Ministerial Councellor, Health Affairs, tel. +358 295 163,584, firstname.lastname@stm.fi
Erja Heikkinen, Councellor of Education +358 295 330 101, firstname.lastname@minedu.fi