The Dutch Cancer Agenda (NKA) is launched today. More than 100 organizations (research institutions, patients, health and social care organizations, funders and governments) are joining forces and expertise on this agenda in the New Netherlands Cancer Society (NKC).

Twenty goals have been set in relation to prevention, genetics, early detection, diagnosis, treatment and control, palliative care and quality of life. Five of these goals receive the group’s primary attention. These are: smoking behavior, early detection, rare cancers, late effects, and work and cancer.

The Netherlands was one of the few countries in the European Union that did not have a comprehensive national cancer strategy.

“Such a strategy is urgently needed,” says Johan van de Gronden, director of KWF Kankerbestrijding. He points to the numbers: half of the Dutch will develop cancer. By 2032, it is expected that 156,000 people will be diagnosed. There are also more than 1.4 million people living at the time who have or previously had the disease.

In addition, the Netherlands still has a lot of room for improvement in Europe, say the initiators. About 8 percent of Dutch people die from cancer compared to the European average. The Dutch get 15% more cancer than the European average

“So cancer is the number one cause of death in the Netherlands,” says van de Grunden. “But among these 150,000-plus diagnoses, you can, for example, prevent a third diagnosis through preventive measures. But you have to take it across society for it to have an impact. This can only be achieved through an integrated national plan.”

Think of supermarkets modifying their range so that the majority of the range (food and drinks) is no longer unhealthy. Or reduce or cancel the value-added tax on healthy food, so that healthy food becomes cheaper. Another component of the national plan could be an educational program that teaches children at an early age what a healthy meal is.

Preventing young people from starting to smoke is also the tip of the spear. 16% of annual cancer cases are caused by smoking. “This means that 19,000 people die prematurely every year, when this could have been prevented,” says van de Grunden.

The new comprehensive strategy also pays attention to informal caregivers. For example, patient associations can offer training courses on providing informal care and providing psychological support to people. Employers can make better arrangements for leave, so that combining work and heavy informal care remains possible.

The new approach is not the result of a strategy developed by the government, as is the case in other countries. The parties to the Dutch Cancer Society are therefore not concerned with issues such as increasing tobacco tariffs and reducing tobacco sales points. This matter is up to the Council of Ministers and Parliament.

“The legacy of the first and second Rutte governments was the prevailing philosophy of withdrawing government. Citizens and organizations had to solve the problem themselves,” says van de Grunden. For this reason, the KWF Cancer Foundation, in cooperation with the Dutch Integrated Cancer Center and the Dutch Federation of Cancer Patient Organizations, has developed a national agenda.

To ensure the implementation of plans and agreements, KWF is establishing a monitoring team.

According to Van de Grunden, it has already been proven in other countries that integrated cancer action plans can be effective. He points to Denmark.

Many Danish women have been diagnosed with breast cancer there for a long time. The forecast was not good at all. Since 2000, successive national agendas have been set to improve the situation.

“And with success. Denmark is one of the countries with the best results in breast cancer. We have to learn from this.”