Funded under the EU4Health Programme 2021–2027, the Joint Action CancerWatch aims to improve the availability and quality of cancer registry data across Europe. With 95 partners from 30 countries, including 60 population-based cancer registries (PBCR), the initiative supports the European Cancer Information System (ECIS) and contributes to the development of the European Health Data Space (EHDS).
Coordinated by the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH), CancerWatch builds on the collaboration between the European Network of Cancer Registries (ENCR) and the Joint Research Centre (JRC). The Joint Action focuses on strengthening and digitizing cancer registration by enabling faster and richer data collection, expanding geographic coverage, improving key indicators in ECIS, and developing technical solutions to ensure high-quality data can be integrated into ECIS and aligned with EHDS infrastructure.
Belgium is actively involved through the Belgian Cancer Registry (BCR) and Sciensano. BCR plays a leading role by coordinating Work Package 7 (WP7), which focuses on deriving key statistics and insights from PBCR data to strengthen ECIS. The aim is to establish ENCR data in ECIS as a key resource for European cancer surveillance and research. WP7 will deliver national estimates for countries with incomplete coverage, define survival and prevalence indicators, and develop analytical tools to inform citizens, policymakers, and healthcare professionals about cancer burden and inequalities across Europe.
In addition to WP7, BCR contributes to several other work packages, including communication, evaluation, sustainability, AI-supported coding, and data governance.
CancerWatch also collaborates with numerous EU initiatives such as UNCAN, CanScreen-ECIS, ECHoS, OriON, Quantum, CCI4EU, TEHDAS2, and Darwin EU, ensuring alignment and integration of cancer data across Europe.
This Joint Action represents a major step forward in harmonizing cancer data and enhancing its utility for research, policy development, and patient care across Europe.
