The European Week Against Cancer is a set of 7 days each year, from 25 to 31 May, to encourage all of Europe to use this time period to increase communication on the issues closest to their hearts, and to reflect on and to take action to achieve a Europe Free of Cancer.
The current European Week Against Cancer was revived in 2011 by ECL as part of the European Union Joint Action called “European Partnership Action Against Cancer (EPAAC)”, co-funded by the EU Health Programme.
It replaces the previous EWAC campaign which took place across Europe between 1989 and 2005, when it was then also coordinated by ECL and involved many member leagues. While the old edition of EWAC had specific themes each year, EWACs no longer have specific themes. This is because it was evaluated then, and confirmed among leagues upon its revival, that countries prefer to choose their own themes.
For those looking for a theme, we strongly suggest that you focus on one or all of the messages in the European Code Against Cancer, developed by WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer. The more messages you follow in the Code, the more you can reduce your risk for cancer.
The European Week Against Cancer takes place the last 7 days of each May, 25 to 31 May, to include World No Tobacco Day on 31 May. Smoking is by far the biggest preventable cause of cancer.
There is no particular theme for EWAC, as countries and leagues prefer to have the flexibility to choose their own themes.
For those seeking a theme, ECL encourages an emphasis on prevention, highlighting the evidenced-based messages in the European Code Against Cancer developed by WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer and funded by the European Commission. www.cancercode.eu or https://cancer-code-europe.iarc.fr. Materials, including animations and leaflets in all EU languages for communicating the Code and prevention messages are on this ECL page.
The logo is free for anyone to use to promote the European Week Against Cancer. Using the logo does not reflect an endorsement by ECL or our members, unless it is an event organised in collaboration with the MEPs Against Cancer or with us at ECL.
You can download the logo here by right-clicking and saving the image. Do let us know about your activities so that we can consider sharing it.