Public Affairs
Colorectal Cancer
Colorectal cancer is the second most common cause of cancer-related death in Europe
Striving towards increased health literacy and real political impact
UEG leads, carries out and engages in a series of public awareness campaigns every year. To ensure that our messages reflect the united voice of the broad community we represent, we actively seek the involvement of our member societies in our key awareness raising activities.
Talking healthy living with WHO
In 2020 we took part in the European Health Forum Gastein with the session ‘‘Science of healthy living: Challenging the status quo to enable healthier choices". Together with Dr Bente Mikklensen, WHO Director on Noncommunicable Diseases, we have discussed the impact of alcohol and unhealthy foods on digestive health, with a focus on the commercial determinants of health and the needed public health interventions.
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European Health Forum Gastein session ‘‘Science of healthy living: Challenging the status quo to enable healthier choices
Our main public awareness campaigns are:
Digestive Health Month
With World Digestive Health Day on May 29, we celebrate Digestive Health Month each May with a public awareness campaign focused on on a particular digestive health-related topic.
Find Digestive Health Month content and discussions on Twitter via #DigestiveHealthMonth.
Awareness Week on Alcohol Related Harm
Every November, we partner up with the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL), European Alcohol Policy Alliance (Eurocare), European Brain Council (EBC), European Liver Patients’ Association (ELPA), European Federation of Associations of Families of People with Mental Illness (EUFAMI) and European Federation of Addiction Societies (EUFAS) in an EU-level awareness campaign providing information on the negative effects of alcohol and calling for greater policy action to address the problems it can cause.
Colorectal Cancer Month
March is Colorectal Cancer (CRC) Awareness Month – a month long public awareness campaign focused on the importance of prevention, early diagnosis and burden of CRC. Every year, we disseminate information on the incidence of colorectal cancer and stress on the need for implementing screening programmes via social media and newsletters.
In 2023, we also supported Digestive Cancers Europe (DiCE) and their initiative for the European Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month (ECCAM): StepApp for CRC, a free mobile app that counts your steps.
World Pancreatic Cancer Day
November 21 marks World Pancreatic Cancer Day (WPCD). As knowledge of pancreatic cancer is alarmingly low, hindering the progress in the fight against this cancer, UEG marks WPCD with an awareness campaign.
Througout the day, we provide information about the disease and of its devastating impact, prompting action to change the outlook for patients and families.
Our partnerships
To strengthen our advocacy work, we are building alliances and are in constant dialogue with health stakeholders in Europe, working together on delivering positive change at policy level across Europe. Our advocacy-related partnerships:
