About the Swedish Cancer Society

The Swedish Cancer Society is an independent non-profit organisation. Our main task is to raise and distribute money for cancer research. As the principal financier of cancer research in Sweden, the Swedish Cancer Society essentially acts as a national research council. Thanks to far-reaching knowledge about cancer in the organisation’s network, the Swedish Cancer Society is also active in areas such as information and forming opinion.

The Swedish Cancer Society was founded in 1951 to support cancer research since government subsidies were – and remain – only modest. Today the Society plays an active role in research-funding, fundraising, providing information, knowledge dissemination and in forming opinion.

Research-funding
The core  of the Swedish Cancer Society’s activities is funding research. In 2007 the Research Commission will award just over 300 million Swedish kronor to research projects, care development projects, in cancer research positions, grants and other areas. Additional areas of support include participation in courses and conferences related to cancer, as well as scientific meetings and collaboration groups.

The crucial aspects when awarding grants are each project’s originality, anticipated news value and feasibility, and its link to cancer. The process of selecting the very best research projects follows established procedures and is closely regulated. In May each year researchers submit applications describing their project’s aims and its expected results, along with a cost calculation. Applications are then forwarded to eight different prioritisation committees for evaluation. The various committees’ proposals are assessed in October, and in November the Research Commission makes a decision regarding which projects will be funded. The committees and the Commission jointly include some 60 experts in various cancer-related areas.

Regulations stipulate that the Research Commission should follow the same principles as government research councils – such as the national Swedish Research Council – when awarding grants. The Research Commission’s aim is to support the projects that represent the highest quality in the field of cancer, whatever the focus. This means that selection takes place in national competition and does not take account of the field of research or geographic location. However, there are some exceptions where targeted funds are awarded to research areas of particular urgency.

Fundraising
As a non-profit organisation, the Swedish Cancer Society receives no government funding, and there fore entirely dependent on private donations. In 2006 the Society raised almost 360 million Swedish kronor. Although campaigns and TV events attract a lot of attention, the main bulk of donations are made by private individuals. Legacies represent a significant and growing proportion. In 2006 almost half of the total donations – or 150 million kronor – came from legacies.

The best known and most widely spread fundraising activity is the Pink Ribbon campaign for breast cancer. Pink Ribbons are sold to support breast cancer research. Companies, organisations and private individuals all over Sweden take part in all kinds of different fundraising activities in the campaign month, which is October. The aim of the campaign is to increase awareness of breast cancer, promote early discovery and raise funds for breast cancer research.

Information and communication
One of the major problems in Sweden’s cancer care today is that care workers have no time to provide information to and support patients to the desired degree. To help in this effort, the Swedish Cancer Society set up an information- and support line. It started in November 1994 and is now a comprehensive service with around 9,000 contacts a year by phone, e-mail and online chatting. The healthcare workers who staff the information- and support line have advanced training in cancer care and dialogue technique, and provide callers with information and emotional support. The majority of callers or e-mailers are close friends, relatives or patients, and most of them – about 70% – are women. The information and support line also answers questions on Sweden’s biggest youth site, Lunarstorm, as well as chat questions in connection with activities such as the Pink Ribbon campaign.

The Swedish Cancer Society website provides a wealth of information on everything from illnesses and treatment to new research findings.

The Swedish Cancer Society also publishes around 30 information brochures for patients and close friends and relatives. The magazine Rädda Livet (= Save Life) is published four times per year. Rädda Livet is built around themes that highlight different cancer illnesses, along with the latest developments in cancer research, care and treatment.

Opinion-leading
As one of Sweden’s biggest organisations in the field of cancer, it is vital to actively participate in the general debate about the illness. Since 2001 the Swedish Cancer Society has promoted the idea of a collective strategy for fighting cancer in Sweden – expressed by the need for a National Cancer Plan. The aim of the annual Swedish Cancer Society Report is to strengthen opinion-leading efforts, and to contribute with the Society’s knowledge and experience in order to highlight problems in the area of cancer.

The Swedish Cancer Society also aims to increase knowledge about the non-profit sector in general. Non-profit organisations operate under different conditions to public services and the private sector, and as long as knowledge of its situation is poor, non-profit bodies are obliged to adapt to the rules of play in other sectors. In an endeavour to resolve this situation, the Swedish Cancer Society together with the Red Cross has therefore financed a research post in the subject at the Stockholm School of Economics.

Along with around 80 other fundraising organisations, the Swedish Cancer Society is a member of the Swedish Fundraising Council. The Council’s vision is to counteract irresponsible fundraising organisations, and to work for a favourable climate for voluntary work and fundraising in Sweden. One of the Council’s focus issues is that donations to charitable organisations should be tax-deductible, which is common in many other countries.

Another task that comes within the frame of the Swedish Cancer Society’s opinion-leading is cancer prevention. Efforts in this area are focused on the dangers associated with use of tobacco and excessive exposure to the sun.