The National Cancer Strategy – People-centered prevention and care 2026-2035 (in Finnish) – was released on Monday the 10th of November. The long-awaited release of the strategy, which has been prepared in collaboration with a broad group of professionals, was celebrated at the annual Finnish Cancer Forum, held this year in Epicenter, Helsinki. The event was opened by the Finnish Minister of Social Affairs and Health Kaisa Juuso (pictured above). In her opening speech, Juuso emphasized the significance of the increasing amount of cancer diagnoses as well as the importance of equity in cancer care, both of which are addressed by the new cancer strategy.
The opening speech was followed by a welcoming remark from Tomi Mäkelä, the director of the Finnish Cancer Center FICAN, who thanked all those involved in the preparation of the strategy. Mäkelä and the Chief Medical Officer at FICAN, Timo Nykopp, then presented the audience with the newly published strategy, its strategic goals as well as examples of its subgoals and key performance indicators. Concrete measures of success are an essential part of the strategy, as they enable systematic follow-up of strategy implementation throughout the next ten years. The actions taken to achieve strategic goals will be described in more detail in the strategy roadmap, which will be published by June 2026. The strategy is ready, but the work has only just begun, Nykopp stated at the end of the presentation.
Finland performs well in European comparisons
In the portion led by the European Cancer Organisation (ECO), the audience was introduced to the recently published European Cancer Pulse Report for Finland, which compares Finland’s statistics on cancer prevalence, screening participation rates and risk factors to European averages. According to the report, Finland fares well in many areas, and for example participation rates for screenings are high. However, there are still areas where improvements are needed, such as increasing equity and the prevention of obesity, which is a significant risk factor for cancer.
The themes shared by the country report and the National Cancer Strategy were discussed in a panel consisting of Advocacy Specialist Emma Andersson from Cancer Patients Finland, MD, PhD Mef Nilbert from Lund University and the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare, Deputy Director General Tuula Helander from the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, director of FICAN Tomi Mäkelä, and director of FICAN North Jussi Koivunen. The panel discussion emphasized heavily on the significance of the cancer strategy implementation in advancing equity and support for cancer survivors. Nilbert has been in a leading role in the soon-to-be published Swedish cancer strategy, and gave a warm congratulations to Finland for a comprehensive and well-prepared strategy.
Pictured: Host of the panel Norbert Couespel and panelists Tuula Helander, Tomi Mäkelä, Jussi Koivunen, Emma Andersson and Mef Nilbert. ECO was also represented by Juliana de Sá, who presented the country report for Finland. Photo: Sami Siilin
Cancer Mission Hub Finland as a part of the European network
One of the goals of the National Cancer Strategy is to advance the national implementation of Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan and the EU Mission on Cancer. The unification of national initiatives and international collaboration was discussed in the second portion of the event, where Project Manager Yasmin Fonseca from the ECHoS project introduced the principles and goals of the National Cancer Mission Hub -networks. Professor Iwona Ługowska shared experiences from the Polish National Cancer Mission Hub, up and running since May, and highlighted the importance of mapping out the starting positions, aims and shared visions of involved actors. Mirjami Tran Minh from FICAN presented plans for NCMH Finland. The Finnish hub is hoped to receive the Starting Stage Cancer Mission Hub -recognition in the ECHoS project general assembly in November and to start activities in 2026. One of the key aims of NCMH Finland will be to advance the implementation of the National Cancer Strategy, and to continue collaboration with different stakeholders, which has already been started as a part of the cancer strategy work. Plans will be aligned with the strategy implementation road map and based off of conversations with stakeholders in the beginning of 2026.
Implementing the National Cancer Strategy and first steps for NCMH Finland
The event was concluded with a panel discussion on how the implementation of the National Cancer Strategy can be started and what actions are needed to ensure its sustainability. Taking part in the panel were THL Chief Data Officer Sirpa Soini, Member of Finnish Parliament Sari Sarkomaa, Secretary General of Cancer Society Finland Juha Pekka Turunen, HUS Chief Medical Officer and chairman of the FICAN national management board Markku Mäkijärvi, FICAN Chief Medical Officer Timo Nykopp and Pharma Industry Finland Director Nadia Tamminen. International collaboration, perseverance, and visible action were highlighted as key necessities for the successful implementation of the strategy. The discussion also touched on funding and the integration of the strategy into the next government program, which were considered essential for the resourcing of cancer care and research.
Participants of the afternoon panel discussion: Timo Nykopp, Sirpa Soini, Sari Sarkomaa, Nadia Tamminen, Juha Pekka Turunen, Markku Mäkijärvi and panel moderator Sauli Vuoti. Photo: Sami Siilin
Director Tomi Mäkelä ended the event by emphasizing the importance of collaboration. To ensure the success of the National Cancer Strategy, we need the commitment of all decision-makers and actors in the cancer field. Thank you to everyone for joining the event and for being involved in the preparation of the cancer strategy!
The recording of the event is available through the link below until 26.11.:
You can already mark your calendars for the following events in 2026:
- NCMH Finland stakeholder meeting 23.3.2026 (afternoon)
- Finnish National Cancer Forum 10.11.2026 (afternoon)
ECO Country Report:
Presentation on NCMH Finland:
Presentation of the Finnish Cancer Strategy:
- Presentation of the Finnish Cancer Strategy (in English)
Finnish National Cancer Strategy:
- Kansallinen syöpästrategia 2026-2035 (in Finnish)
