World Cancer Day 2026: United by Unique, Guided by Governance

By Athanasia Papachristodoulou, Clinical Governance Director Affidea

World Cancer Day 2026 offers a powerful moment to reflect, recommit, and act. Under the global campaign theme “United by Unique” (2025–2027), this three-year journey places people at the very centre of care, recognising that every cancer experience is different, yet our responsibility to patients is shared.
From raising awareness to taking meaningful action, the campaign challenges all of us in healthcare to deliver care that is not only effective, but truly person-centred.

Strong governance is essential to turning this vision into reality. Our organisation has been, and continues to be, in a phase of sustained growth, both in the number of centres we operate and in the breadth of clinical services we provide. Across Europe, we deliver integrated care through diagnostic imaging centres, outpatient consultations, surgical services, radiation oncology, chemotherapy units, laboratories, and ambulatory surgery facilities. This expansion brings opportunity, but also responsibility.

Our Clinical Governance structure ensures that growth never comes at the expense of quality or safety. It provides clear accountability from board to bedside, harmonised clinical standards across countries, and robust oversight of patient outcomes, clinical effectiveness, and regulatory compliance. Through structured clinical audits, performance monitoring, and continuous quality improvement programmes, we embed consistency and excellence across diverse settings and services.

Equally fundamental is our strong safety culture. We actively promote transparency, learning from incidents and near misses, and a just culture in which our professionals are encouraged and supported to speak up. In cancer care, where treatments are complex, pathways are multidisciplinary, and patients are often at their most vulnerable, safety must be a shared value, lived every day across all services and locations.

The “United by Unique” campaign reminds us that governance and safety are not abstract concepts or administrative requirements. They are enablers of personalised, compassionate care at scale. By combining organisational growth with rigorous clinical governance and an unwavering focus on people, we can ensure that every patient benefits from care that is safe, high-quality, and tailored to their individual journey.

On World Cancer Day 2026, we stand united—by our commitment to strong governance, by our culture of safety, and by our respect for what makes every patient unique. Our challenge, and our duty, is to turn awareness into action, and action into better cancer care for all.