Cancer Research in Switzerland - Krebsliga Schweiz

As a federation, the Cancer League comprises
20 cantonal and regional cancer leagues, with
the Swiss Cancer League (SCL) as the umbrella organization
with headquarters in Bern. In addition
to the SCL, eleven of the cantonal cancer leagues
provided funds for research in 2009 and 2010:
On average per year the cantonal cancer leagues
awarded a total of CHF 4.2 million to close to
50 research projects, mostly to projects in their
own canton.
A federation development project was launched in
2009 with the aim to intensify cooperation within
the organization as a whole and to offer nationally
standardized services to patients. In the context of
this process, the area of research funding was also
discussed at length.
The cantonal cancer leagues and the SCL came to a
mutual agreement on the following principles for optimization
of the quality, allocation of responsibilities,
and services in the area of research funding:
– Mutual exchange of information on funds,
projects, processes, and selection criteria will be
improved.
– Large cantonal cancer leagues that have their
own research funding activities will follow mutually
determined minimal requirements with regard
to the evaluation process and the evaluation
criteria used in the review of grant applications.
Rolf Marti, PhD
Head of the Scientific Office, Swiss Cancer League
Research funding by the cantonal cancer leagues
– If needed, cantonal cancer leagues can call upon
the support and competence of the SCL in the
review of grant applications.
– Small cantonal cancer leagues without their
own research funding activities can help to fund
research projects that have already been evaluated
and are supported by the SCL.
– At the policy level, SCL works for good framework
conditions for research, especially clinical
research.
A further goal of the federation development project
of the Cancer League is to improve the transparency
of supported research projects and their results
both within the organization as a whole and for the
public, partners, and politics/government. To this
purpose, the SCL conducted a written survey of the
cantonal cancer leagues in the spring of 2011.
In the following, detailed information on research
funding by the cantonal and regional cancer leagues
in the years 2009 and 2010 is presented. Information
is provided not only on research projects funded but
also for funding in the broader sense, which includes
support given to cancer registries or cancer screening
programmes. In principle the cantonal cancer
leagues support research projects and institutions
in their own cantons. In part the cantonal cancer
leagues also supported research projects that the
SCL and the Foundation Cancer Research Switzerland
evaluated and approved for funding but did not
fund in full.
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