Improving EU cancer screening policies: A framework for identifying barriers of screening programs with monitoring...

Cancer remains a leading cause of mortality in the European Union. The European Beating Cancer Plan and updated screening guidelines emphasize the importance of population-based, organized screening for cancers such as breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer. However, many programs struggle with low participation rates, fragmented data systems, and insufficient quality monitoring. In this paper, we review existing efforts to harmonize the data collection and monitoring activities across Europe, discuss barriers to organized cancer screening programs identified in previous initiatives, and propose a framework linking monitoring indicators with potential barrier domains. We highlight that robust and standardized data collection is crucial for transparent evaluation and barriers assessment, while also emphasizing the need for updated quality indicators. These efforts lay the groundwork for harmonized data collection that can inform barrier identification and drive continuous improvement of screening programs. The insights gained are directly relevant to EU cancer policy, supporting the implementation of the European Beating Cancer Plan and helping member states strengthen organized, equitable screening strategies.