Listen up, folks, we’ve got something important to talk about – it’s about our kids, the bravest kids, battling cancer, and the care they need. It’s huge, it’s about palliative care in Europe, and let me tell you, it’s a big deal.

So, we did this incredible survey, the best survey, across Europe, and guess what? We had 158 top-notch paediatric oncology centres join in from 27 countries. That’s a lot of countries, believe me. And they’re doing something amazing – 64.6% of these centres, they’re offering specialised palliative care. That’s 24/7, with the best doctors and teams. It’s fantastic.

But here’s the thing, and it’s a big thing – 80.9% have these multidisciplinary teams, and 69.1% are giving care at home. That’s what we want, right? But, and it’s a big but, 38.7% of these places, they can’t keep up with the demand. Not good.

Now, when do they start this care? When it’s tough, when the cancer’s tough. That’s in 81.2% of the centres. But only a few, just 7.1%, offer it when the diagnosis hits. And that’s not enough. We can do better.

And bereavement services – it’s sad, but it’s necessary. Over half, 52.6%, they’re doing it. But here’s the kicker – parents, they don’t always get it, and that’s the biggest barrier. And the referrals, they come in too late. We’ve got to fix that.

So, what’s the bottom line? We’ve got specialised palliative care in more than half of these centres, and that’s good, but it’s not enough. We’ve got to do more, much more. We’ve got to break down the barriers, educate the parents, train the staff. We’ve got to expand, make sure every kid who needs it gets this care. It’s about making palliative care great, for every child, everywhere in Europe. And we’re going to do it. We’re going to make it happen.