14/04/2026
Today, our Policy Officer, Filip Karan, attended the “Delivering Equitable Access to Optimal Care for All Patients with Cancer in the EU27” event, organised by the ESMO - European Society for Medical Oncology at the European Parliament.
One message came through loud and clear: where you live in Europe can still determine whether you get a chance to access a clinical trial, and in some countries, that chance is close to zero.
Clinical trials are not just research. They are often a lifeline for cancer patients, offering access to innovative treatments that would otherwise be unavailable. Yet across the EU, access varies more than fivefold, leaving many patients behind.
At the event, Filip raised a key question to the panel: "𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘌𝘜 𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘥𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴, 𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴?"
Reducing red tape must mean more trials in more countries, and for more patients.
