Netherlands: Lung Cancer Country Profile
The Netherlands performs well across all five of the domains, scoring ‘high’ in the third and fourth domains on diagnosis and
treatment and ‘moderately high’ in the second and fifth domains on public health and R&D. In the first domain, on strategy, the
Netherlands scored only moderately well because the National Lung Cancer Control Plan needs to be updated and include
an implementation schedule and funding source; also, there is no specific lung cancer control plan. Policies on tobacco and
e-cigarette use could also be strengthened, and complete vital registration data collection of the Netherlands is only medium
quality. Scores in the treatment domain could be improved by discussing the psychological burden of lung cancer. We discuss
opportunities for improvement at the end of this country profile.
As one of the two countries participating in the NELSON trial, the Netherlands is well-placed to implement its findings and
improve early detection rates of lung cancer. The trial demonstrated a reduction in lung cancer mortality with CT screening of
high-risk people: individuals were recruited from population-based registries in the Netherlands and Belgium and compared ten-
year outcomes between those offered vs those not-offered screening with CT. Understanding what steps can be taken to address
the primary causes of lung cancer through efforts to impact smoking prevention and cessation, tobacco pricing and taxation, as
well as considering the cost of insurance premiums for smokers, were all issues important to workshop participants.
Summary scorecard
Domain Austria Belgium Finland France Netherlands Norway Poland Romania Spain Sweden UKLung cancer
is a strategic
priorityM
Lung cancer
is a public
health issueMH
Lung cancer
is a race
against timeH
Lung cancer
is at a
crossroadsH
Lung cancer
is a focus for
researchMH
KeyLow Moderately low Moderate Moderately high HighSponsored by