Cancer patients' organisation participation in heath policy decision-making: A snapshot/cluster analysis of the EU-28 countries

Even though patient involvement in health policy decision-making is well documented, studies evaluating the degree and impact of this participation are scarce. This is even more conspicuous in the case of cancer. There is evidence showing that patients with the same type of cancer and at the same stage of the disease will receive different treatments in different countries. Therefore, it is crucial to assess the degree of patient participation in health policy decision-making across Europe, as it may result in health inequalities across countries. In a response to this research call, the present study aimed to provide a snapshot of cancer patients' organisation (CPO) participation in health policy processes in European Union (EU)-28 countries.