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Europe-wide cancer survival
Troubles in the Swedish Medical Research Council The entire board of the Swedish Medical Research Council (MFR) will be replaced on May 23. Under normal circumstances, board members are elected for 3 years, and only five of the ten members need be replaced at each election. The wholesale replacement this time is the result of several years of serious allegations against the Council. The MFR’s electoral body, representing the medical faculties at the five Swedish universities, decided to replace all its delegates on the board. The government, which chooses three of the members, decided to do likewise. : The MFR is a governmental authority responsible for distributing SKr 300 million for medical research a year. It can support research proposed by researchers or initiate research itself. The growing controversy started in October, 1992, when there was an uproar over the distribution of money to research; the funds had been collected from industry by a previous government. Around the same time, questions were being raised about the MFR’s distribution of grants for : genome research. The council was being : accused of partiality, not being open in its : dealings, and administrative malpractice. : A complaint by a group of leading med- : ical researchers that same year to the : Chancellor of Justice led to an inquiry. : The report, published in December, : 1994, upheld the complaints and recom- : mended that the MFR should be more : open and make efforts to be impartial. :: A few months later, on Feb 26 this year, two female researchers accused : MFR of discrimination against women : applying for grants and scientific posts; : only 4 of the 26 persons recently appoint- : ed as research assistants had been : : women. Again there was a complaint to the Chancellor of Justice, alleging that MFR had refused to give the complainants access to documents that were said would have provided evidence of
Europe-wide
sexual discrimination. MFR refuted the allegation of sexual discrimination but admitted that the issue was a common problem within the world of research. When, during the controversy over sexual discrimination, the Swedish education minister suggested the creation of 30 new professorships and another 90 scientific posts "for women only", the debate
extended beyond the universities and is still going on. The next step in MFR’s troubles started on April 26, when the newspaper Dagens Nyheter claimed that, to mislead inquiry teams, MFR had altered documents showing how researchers applying for grants were assessed. MFR denied the allegation, but the charge was brought to the Chancellor of Justice. The latest controversy centres on a professor of psychiatry who has been a board member for 12 years. The allegation is that he used the grants that he received from the Council for purposes other than those he applied for. An inquiry into this allegation is in progress. The latest event in the story so far occurred this week when the newspaper Dagens Medicin published recommendations by the electoral body about MFR’s relations with the scientific world. It recommended, for example, that researchers holding strategic posts-eg, leading positions at universities-should not be MFR board members. It also suggested that MFR should hold a meeting every year to report its activities to researchers and to answer questions and criticisms. The controversy will not end here. Several inquiries, one initiated by the government, are in progress. MFR board members retort that their critics are acting in their own financial and scientific interests rather than altruistically.
cancer
survival
Billed as the most ambitious comparison of cancer survival undertaken to date, the first-phase results of the EUROCARE study were published by the European Comission and the International Agency for Research on Cancer on May 16. The population-based study drew on data from 30 cancer registries in Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Switzerland, and the UK. The data cover almost 800 000 patients whose diagnoses of cancer were between 1978 and 1985 and who were followed up until at least 1990. When the programme was set up in 1991, its aims were to see whether there are any important differences in survival between different populations in Europe; to estimate the average survival for cancer patients in Europe; and to promote further studies. The results published so far indicate that the ranking by country is fairly stable for many, but not all all cancers. For instance, for most cancers, the age-standardised percentage of five-year survivals in Finland is well above the weighted European average (eg, for breast cancer; Finland 73-5%, Europe 66.5%). But for cancer of the pancreas, Finland’s ranking is low (women: Finland, 1-6%;
: :
: :
:
Europe, 5-1%; Europe, 3-4%).
men:
Finland,
2-0%;
The coordinators of EUROCARE have that the study does not include data on the stage of cancer at diagnosis, nor is comparison made of the : different types of treatment given, since such information is not sufficiently standardised. In addition, the data from the participating registries do not necessarily cover all of the countries involved. All cancer patients from Denmark, Estonia, : Finland, and Scotland were included, together with 46% of English cancer patients. However, only 2-14% of those Mats Nilsson receiving treatment for cancer in the remaining countries were included. Excluded from the study are data on canSome freedom for Garetta News in Brief cers of the bladder and prostate and the : with the exception of Dr Michel Garetta, former director of Dracunculiasis eradication WHO has lymphomas, France’s national blood transfusion centre set up an International Commission for Hodgkin’s. The coordinators had thought that definitions of these diseases were too the Certification of Dracunculiasis Eradi(CNTS), was released from jail last Mondissimilar between countries or had on cation. It will advise WHO the validity day. He received a 4-year prison sentence of former endemic countries’ claims of changed too much over time to allow in October, 1992, for "deception with dis: international comparisons. regard to the qualities of products"- the eradication. But work is underway to make future distribution of HIV-contaminated blood England’s war on drugs The governdata more complete. The study’s database products to haemophiliacs in 1984 and ment has, in a white paper, outlined its is now being extended to include new 1985. He was granted a reduction in his for illegal drug use in prison sentence that is routine under strategy overtackling populations, and patients diagnosed up to the next 3 years. Tasks set England 1990 will be included. Results of this next criminal law. He cannot, however, leave include a new 24-hour free national drugs the European Union because he is under phase-EUROCARE-2-are expected in and mounting publicity service, helpline mid-1997. on two counts: "interferinvestigation on the risks of drug-taking. ence", since he is accused of having had campaigns both public responsibilities and commerWHO executive board chair Prof Li A monograph containing the main EUROcial interests at the same time, and "poi- Shichuo, Director-General of the DepartCARE results is available from IARC, 150 cours ment of International Cooperation, MinAlbert-Thomas, F-69372 Lyon, France. soning". istry of Health, China, will take over from Marc Gozlan Dr Jesus Kumate of Mexico.:Sarah Ramsay
;
;
emphasised
;
1299
Europe-wide
sexual discrimination. MFR refuted the allegation of sexual discrimination but admitted that the issue was a common problem within the world of research. When, during the controversy over sexual discrimination, the Swedish education minister suggested the creation of 30 new professorships and another 90 scientific posts "for women only", the debate
extended beyond the universities and is still going on. The next step in MFR’s troubles started on April 26, when the newspaper Dagens Nyheter claimed that, to mislead inquiry teams, MFR had altered documents showing how researchers applying for grants were assessed. MFR denied the allegation, but the charge was brought to the Chancellor of Justice. The latest controversy centres on a professor of psychiatry who has been a board member for 12 years. The allegation is that he used the grants that he received from the Council for purposes other than those he applied for. An inquiry into this allegation is in progress. The latest event in the story so far occurred this week when the newspaper Dagens Medicin published recommendations by the electoral body about MFR’s relations with the scientific world. It recommended, for example, that researchers holding strategic posts-eg, leading positions at universities-should not be MFR board members. It also suggested that MFR should hold a meeting every year to report its activities to researchers and to answer questions and criticisms. The controversy will not end here. Several inquiries, one initiated by the government, are in progress. MFR board members retort that their critics are acting in their own financial and scientific interests rather than altruistically.
cancer
survival
Billed as the most ambitious comparison of cancer survival undertaken to date, the first-phase results of the EUROCARE study were published by the European Comission and the International Agency for Research on Cancer on May 16. The population-based study drew on data from 30 cancer registries in Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Switzerland, and the UK. The data cover almost 800 000 patients whose diagnoses of cancer were between 1978 and 1985 and who were followed up until at least 1990. When the programme was set up in 1991, its aims were to see whether there are any important differences in survival between different populations in Europe; to estimate the average survival for cancer patients in Europe; and to promote further studies. The results published so far indicate that the ranking by country is fairly stable for many, but not all all cancers. For instance, for most cancers, the age-standardised percentage of five-year survivals in Finland is well above the weighted European average (eg, for breast cancer; Finland 73-5%, Europe 66.5%). But for cancer of the pancreas, Finland’s ranking is low (women: Finland, 1-6%;
: :
: :
:
Europe, 5-1%; Europe, 3-4%).
men:
Finland,
2-0%;
The coordinators of EUROCARE have that the study does not include data on the stage of cancer at diagnosis, nor is comparison made of the : different types of treatment given, since such information is not sufficiently standardised. In addition, the data from the participating registries do not necessarily cover all of the countries involved. All cancer patients from Denmark, Estonia, : Finland, and Scotland were included, together with 46% of English cancer patients. However, only 2-14% of those Mats Nilsson receiving treatment for cancer in the remaining countries were included. Excluded from the study are data on canSome freedom for Garetta News in Brief cers of the bladder and prostate and the : with the exception of Dr Michel Garetta, former director of Dracunculiasis eradication WHO has lymphomas, France’s national blood transfusion centre set up an International Commission for Hodgkin’s. The coordinators had thought that definitions of these diseases were too the Certification of Dracunculiasis Eradi(CNTS), was released from jail last Mondissimilar between countries or had on cation. It will advise WHO the validity day. He received a 4-year prison sentence of former endemic countries’ claims of changed too much over time to allow in October, 1992, for "deception with dis: international comparisons. regard to the qualities of products"- the eradication. But work is underway to make future distribution of HIV-contaminated blood England’s war on drugs The governdata more complete. The study’s database products to haemophiliacs in 1984 and ment has, in a white paper, outlined its is now being extended to include new 1985. He was granted a reduction in his for illegal drug use in prison sentence that is routine under strategy overtackling populations, and patients diagnosed up to the next 3 years. Tasks set England 1990 will be included. Results of this next criminal law. He cannot, however, leave include a new 24-hour free national drugs the European Union because he is under phase-EUROCARE-2-are expected in and mounting publicity service, helpline mid-1997. on two counts: "interferinvestigation on the risks of drug-taking. ence", since he is accused of having had campaigns both public responsibilities and commerWHO executive board chair Prof Li A monograph containing the main EUROcial interests at the same time, and "poi- Shichuo, Director-General of the DepartCARE results is available from IARC, 150 cours ment of International Cooperation, MinAlbert-Thomas, F-69372 Lyon, France. soning". istry of Health, China, will take over from Marc Gozlan Dr Jesus Kumate of Mexico.:Sarah Ramsay
;
;
emphasised
;
1299