Current Campaigns & activities

Education and awareness

• Delivering information sessions following our annual general meeting and by invitation to various groups. Contact us on info@europadonnaireland.ie if you would like us to give a talk to your organisation.
• Developing patient literature where we see a 'gap'.
• Publishing Europa Donna Ireland e-newsletters.
• Highlighting breast cancer issues through traditional and social media. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

Prevention and early detection

• Breast Health Day 15^th October 2017.
• Seeking an increase in the upper age limit of breast screening from 65 to 69. *This has been agreed in principle but not yet implemented.

Improved breast cancer policies and services

• Making submissions to relevant government commissions and working groups.
• Monitoring the implementation of the National Cancer Strategy 2017-2026.
• Campaigning for better lymphoedema services.
• Campaigning for better psycho-oncology services.

Metastatic breast cancer

• Metastatic Breast Cancer Awareness Day events annually on 13^th October.
• Connect MBC Network, peer-to-peer support for women living with advanced or metastatic breast cancer.

Patient and public involvement (PPI) in research

• Increasingly we are collaborating with Irish researchers on breast cancer research proposals of relevance to the needs of Irish women.

Training

• Our committee members and volunteers make use of education and networking opportunities such as EUROPA DONNA Pan-European conference, European Breast Cancer Conference, EUROPA DONNA advocacy training, EUROPA DONNA Advocacy Leader Conference, Advanced Breast Cancer conference.

Past campaigns and activities

From the foundation of Europa Donna Ireland our priorities have been campaigning for specialist breast centres and for screening. Ireland’s eight Specialist Breast Centres are now established. However, the national breast cancer screening programme BreastCheck is still not covering the recommended age range, promising to do so by 2021.

In addition to these overarching goals, we have also achieved the following:

Annually: We encourage and co-ordinate events for Breast Health Day on 15th October.

• 2017: In collaboration with the Marie Keating Foundation, we hosted our second Metastatic Breast Cancer Awareness Day event in Dublin on the theme of communication issues when living with metastatic breast cancer.
• 2016: In collaboration with the Marie Keating Foundation and the Irish Cancer Society, we hosted Ireland's first Metastatic Breast Cancer Awareness Day event on 13 October in Cork.
• 2016: We launched Connect MBC Network, a peer-to-peer community for women in Ireland living with advanced or metastatic breast cancer (MBC).
• 2015-2017: Europa Donna Ireland contributed to the development of the National Cancer Strategy 2017-2026 as a member of the Patient Forum.
• 2015: We participated in lobbying Irish MEPs for adoption of the written declaration “On the Fight Against Breast Cancer in the EU” (0017/2015).
• 2015: We published the leaflet Lymphoedema in Breast Cancer: Reduce your risk.
• 2009: We published the leaflet 9 things you should know about breast cancer which was distributed to almost 800,000 households around the country. The leaflet won the Crystal Clear Literacy Award in April 2010. The leaflet was updated in 2014.
• 2007: We published the leaflet Specialist Breast Centres.
• 2007: We published the leaflet Breast Cancer and Fertility.
• 2008: We organised the national conference Surviving Breast Cancer.
• 2006: We organised the national conference Best Results for Women.
• 2006: We published the Irish Breast Cancer Charter.
• 2004: We brought the Fashion Targets Breast Cancer campaign to Ireland.