Up to forty three (43) percent of all cancer cases can be prevented by prevention programmes according to The World Health Organization (WHO). Thereby coordinated cross-border efforts have a significant potential for improving the health of the populations in the Baltic Sea Region.
                                         
Hans-Robert Metelmann, Professor at Greifswald University, Chairman of ScanBalt, says “Prevention is a pillar of health care. Effective cancer prevention is a task between life sciences, humanities, social sciences, politics and public-private collaboration on drug development. In ScanBalt BioRegion, the established platform for cross-border collaboration, we have a unique tool to effectively improve health. We will now explore the possibilities to establish concrete projects and involve key stakeholders from research, politics, and education, industry and opinion makers. It is the aim to make cancer prevention an integral component of the social and personal behaviour around the Baltic Sea Region”.
 
Collaboration on cancer in ScanBalt BioRegion is also expected to be an important theme for ScanBalt Academy. ScanBalt Academy is a group of distinguished and prominent life scientists from academia as well as industry and government. The vision is to promote research quality in ScanBalt BioRegion, to Identify and promote fields of research where collaborative trans-national public-private efforts in ScanBalt BioRegion can become global leaders and to be ambassadors with the purpose of attracting human, financial and industrial resources.
 
The inauguration assembly of the Academy will take place in Schwerin/Germany, ScanBalt House, 12th of March 2008. The assembly will be hosted by the Minister President of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Dr. Harald Ringstorff.
 
For further information please contact Professor Hans-Robert Metelmann at hrm@scanbalt.org