Support to the network of National Cancer Mission Hubs (NCMHs)

This topic will ensure the continuation of the work of supporting the creation of a Network of National Cancer Mission Hubs (NCMHs) in Member States and Associated Countries. NCMHs in each Member State and Associate Country are to operate for the whole duration of the Cancer Mission and beyond. It was envisaged that there would be a second phase of support to build on the achievements and needs identified under the ECHoS project^[1] during the first phase.

Proposals under this topic should aim to deliver results that are directed and tailored towards and contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:

• The Network and NCMHs are supported to ensure the integration of Cancer Mission activities at national, regional, and local levels;
• Stakeholders, including patients and citizens, in national, regional or local health and research and innovation systems engage in policy dialogues on cancer;
• Citizens, including patients, are involved in citizen engagement activities, including their design and development, which will lead to recommendations being made to governments, helping to implement and adapt strategies to national and regional needs;
• Regional and national policy makers and authorities benefit from activities carried out in the implementation of Cancer Mission actions.

Building on the first phase of NCMHs, the Mission's activities will be coordinated with relevant national, regional or local actors with a view to facilitate their integration and alignment with EU and national initiatives such as Europe's Beating Cancer Plan and national cancer strategies and/or national cancer control plans. The Network and NCMHs will be strengthened, including through expanding its capacities, outreach and type of activities the Network will carry out, while ensuring its sustainability.

In this regard the proposal should support the operation of the Network and activities carried out by it.

The proposal should address all of the following:

• Enhance the capacity of NCMHs in the Member States and Associated Countries, through knowledge exchange and training, and expanding the geographical outreach of the NCMHs activities in each country;
• Support the Networks' work such as coordination of joint activities of NCMHs and awareness raising of the Cancer Mission activities including coordination of EU cancer research activities and policy actions;
• Develop a methodology on mission-driven implementation of Mission actions with a view to building synergies at national and regional levels;
• Support the engagement of relevant national, regional or local actors, including civil society as well as business and legal advisors, including those who haven't been involved previously, in regular thematic policy dialogues and country-specific dialogues on cancer to increase the impact of EU cancer-related R&I and policies at national, regional and local level;
• Organise regular citizen engagement activities, at least one per year related to the objectives of the Mission, such as on prevention or screening and/or organise activities for a country or a number of countries using tools and materials developed by the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies^[2] in each Member State and Associated Country, with a view to increase awareness and participation in policy discussions;
• Develop strategies for NCMHs to reach long-term sustainability and to create a level of interest from stakeholders including from philanthropy, to attract private funding beyond EU programmes in support of NCMHs;
• Disseminate the results of NCMHs Networks’ activities, through organisation of a yearly conference and development of policy reports;
• Provide a yearly summary report of national Mission-related activities to contribute to the monitoring of progress of the Mission implementation at national and regional levels;
• Organise regular exchanges of best practices between the NCMHs and hubs of the other four missions, e.g. in the area of stakeholder and citizen engagement, long-term sustainability of mission hubs, and building of synergies;
• Work closely with Horizon Europe National Contact Points to enhance their activities, such as raising awareness about Cancer Mission funding activities through information events (e.g. info-days, conferences, mutual-learning events, brokerage events, and fairs) and communication tools. Collaborate closely with Cancer Mission Board members to engage new stakeholders, and to mobilise and align additional funding in support of NCMHs;
• Work closely with relevant international institutions and initiatives addressing science-policy interaction relevant to the Cancer Mission, including relevant OECD initiatives aiming at strengthening evidence-informed policy making for mission-oriented innovation (e.g. contributing to the Community of Practice through mutual learning, workshops and networking initiatives);
• Establish appropriate collaboration with the consortium implementing HORIZON-MISS-2024-CANCER-01-06 for joint activities^[3] such as dissemination and outreach related to the national nodes of the European Cancer Patient Digital Centre (ECPDC)^[4].

This action supports the follow-up to the July 2023 Communication on EU Missions assessment^[5].

[1] Establishing of Cancer Mission Hubs: Networks and Synergies | ECHoS | Project | Fact sheet | HORIZON | CORDIS | European Commission

[2] European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies (who.int)

[3] Examples of those activities are the hosting of national web pages of the ECPDC information portal, engagement with users, assessment of their experiences and provision of feedback to the ECPDC steering board, etc.

[4] European Commission, Directorate-General for Research and Innovation, An operational concept for a European Cancer Patient Digital Centre – EU missions – Cancer, Publications Office of the European Union, 2024, https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2777/78242

[5] eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:52023DC0457