BREATHING IN A NEW ERA
A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF LUNG CANCER POLICIES ACROSS EUROPE
A range of international and national sources were used for the data collection. The EIU team
carried out both primary and secondary research to identify recent authoritative data to populate the
country scorecard. Judgments were made based on the best information available. After draft scores
were assigned, The EIU attended a workshop in each country with external country-based experts,
to discuss the findings and help develop our recommendations. Throughout the process, The EIU
retained editorial control, so all final decisions and conclusions are ours alone. When we wish to refer to
the main emergent themes of one or more workshop we will refer to input of workshop “participants”.
See the appendices for the full methods, the scorecard and the list of workshop participants.How do we know what we are measuring is meaningful?
The theoretical basis of the scorecard is that indicators measure policy and system factors that are
associated with improved outcomes. The logical consequence of this is that if countries implement
what the scorecard is measuring, over time they will see reduced incidence and improved survival. Of
course, outcomes are driven by a number of factors, and there are always numerous confounders to
consider. Nevertheless, for some indicators there is good quality evidence that they are associated with
improved outcomes.
For example, there is published evidence that access to radiotherapy is significantly associated
with improved survival^16 and that quitting smoking can decrease lung cancer risk even among those
genetically predisposed to it.^17 Also, a systematic review concluded that lung cancer specific stigma