Luxembourg has launched its second National Cancer Plan, spanning the period from 2020 to 2024.
Luxembourg's Minister of Health, Paulette Lenert, launched the National Cancer Plan (Plan National Cancer - PNC2) 2020-2024 during an online conference on Friday 11 December 2020.
During this conference, the players involved in the PNC2 2020-2024 presented the different phases and actions inherent to the plan for the next four years. With the cross-cutting theme of patient support in the quality of care, this new plan is focussed on digitalisation with the priority of improving the flow of information and data between specialists and the various institutions.
By putting the PNC2 into action, Luxembourg aims to provide itself with an important tool in order to continue the fight against cancer. Even today, in Luxembourg, cancer is the leading cause of death in men and the second leading cause of death in women. There are around 3,000 new cases of cancer each year and more than 1,100 people die from this disease. Minister Paulette Lenert commented: "Alarming figures which, through the PNC2 and in the extension of the work accomplished at the level of the PNC 2014-2018, will make it possible to fight this disease and in the long term, to put in place levers of action to even better prevent and ward off the disease".
Through the projects undertaken in PNC1, the fight against cancer in Luxembourg has achieved major success. The creation of new organisational infrastructures, such as the national centre for human genetics (Centre national de génétique humaine) within the National Health Laboratory (Laboratoire national de santé - LNS), the National Cancer Institute (Institut national du cancer), as well as the implementation of a national programme for the early detection of colorectal cancer, are examples of this success.
The ambition of PNC2 is to develop digitalisation and implement computerisation at all levels. These advancements are expected to allow a better flow of information and data between specialists and the various institutions involved in patient care. The latter will benefit from these innovations while systematically having access to an innovative and high-quality hospital sector, throughout their career.
The various measures and actions of PNC2 will benefit from synergies with the 2018-2019 coalition agreement, other national health plans and health promotion and prevention programmes, such as Gesond iessen, méi Beweegen (eat healthily, move more), as well as the implementation of recent legislative measures, such as the 2018 hospital law.
The PNC 2020-2024 brochure and leaflet can be viewed on or downloaded directly from Sante.lu.
