Action grants for a project on the quality and safety of radiation technology in diagnosis and treatment of cancer

Expected results and impact
The action will contribute to improve the quality and safety of medical radiation applications, the standards of the workforce in the radio-nuclear medical sector through education and training, and it will facilitate a more equal access to modern medical radiation technology and interventions.

In addition, the action will help to better align Euratom and EU health actions on important issues such as safety and quality in medical and radiation applications and in radiopharmaceuticals. It will contribute to a reduction in discrepancies through a shared and harmonised approach to current radiation technology for medical applications to address cancer diagnosis and treatment.

This action will ultimately benefit cancer patients and the general population in accessing radiology and nuclear medicine services in the Member States.

Specific mandatory deliverables and/or milestones
Participants in the action have to regularly report on the progress of the work to the Steering Group on Quality and Safety of medical applications of nuclear and radiation technology (SGQS), to be launched under the SAMIRA action plan by the end of 2021. Indicatively, this will include providing short written updates and presentations to the SGQS once every six months for the duration of the project.

Specific action-level indicators for reporting purposes
The applicants will include the following specific action-level indicators and related reporting activities in their proposals:

Quality and safety of medical radiation applications
- number of experts and organisations involved, by type of application;
- number of manuals / guidance / relevant documents produced;
- number of practical tools deployed, by type of application;
- number of countries and imaging departments included in the EU dose registry.

Workforce education and training
- number of training materials produced;
- number of training courses organised (days);
- number of professionals trained, by category;
- satisfaction rate of trained professionals.

Equal access to modern radiation technology and interventions
- number of reports produced;
- number of recommendations endorsed;
- number of national cancer plans covering imaging and therapeutic equipment;
- number of protocols agreed/endorsed.

The applicants are required to include in their proposals additional specific action-level indicators which will be agreed with the HaDEA during the grant agreement preparation.

Background and policy context
Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan will seek to ensure that people in the Union have the right to access affordable, preventive and curative healthcare of good quality, as called for under the European Pillar of Social Rights. High-quality cancer care depends on a number of factors including access to essential medicines and innovation.

The large majority of current radiation technologies used in medicine address cancer diagnosis and treatment, and the quality and safety of these medical applications needs to be harmonised across the Union as it is evident that disparities exist in the applied level of such standards. In addition, the supply of radioisotopes used for cancer diagnosis and treatment is still not constant and subject to interruptions, therefore measures should be developed to ensure their sustainable supply, in particular in the long-term.

This action supports the Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan objective to ensure high standards in cancer care and implements the EU4Health Programme’s general objective of improving and fostering health in the Union (Article 3, point (a)) through the specific objectives defined in Article 4, points (a) and (g) of Regulation (EU) 2021/522.

Objectives pursued
The aim of the action is to enhance the quality and safety and optimise radiation technology in medicine.

Description of the activities to be funded under this topic
Applicants shall target their proposal to one or more of the action strands (a, b, c) described below and indicate that clearly in the proposal.

This action will be implemented in close cooperation with the Strategic Agenda for Medical Ionising Radiation Applications of nuclear and radiation technology (SAMIRA) (SWD(2021)14 final) and the activities will be grouped as follows:

(a) Quality and safety of medical radiation applications
The action will include accompanying activities to:
(1) build co-operations, support and monitor medical radiations applications,
(2) develop evidence-based guidance and practical tools for quality and safety of medical ionising radiation applications,
(3) build EU dose registry for patients undergoing radiological and nuclear medicine imaging, and
(4) support to align Euratom / EU action on medical radiological diagnostic and therapeutic equipment, including acceptance and performance testing, technical standards and harmonised reporting of adverse events, align Euratom / EU action on radiopharmaceuticals, and support actions for clinical audit of radiology, nuclear medicine and radiotherapy practices.

(b) Workforce education and training
The action will include activities for the:
(1) Union-wide monitoring of workforce availability, education and training;
(2) capacity building in modern radionuclide cancer diagnosis, therapy and ‘theragnostics’; and
(3) development of EU curricula and certification schemes in the quality and safety of radiology, nuclear medicine and radiotherapy.

(c) Equal access to modern medical radiation technology and interventions
The action will include:
(1) monitoring of the Union imaging and radiotherapy equipment base and the availability of modern quality and safety features;
(2) develop quality and safety criteria and optimised imaging protocols for advanced medical imaging;
(3) cover medical radiation technology, including diagnostic and therapeutic application, in national cancer plans; and
(4) improve evidence for clinical efficacy of novel cancer interventions involving ionising radiation.

Applicants have to ensure co-ordination with other SAMIRA actions, in order to avoid duplication of activities. In particular, applicants should take into account the Directorate General for Energy’s calls for tenders on medical equipment and co-ordinated implementation of the legal bases for nuclear medicine and radiopharmaceuticals.