About the Consortium

Cancer on the Island of Ireland

The island of Ireland has one of the highest cancer incidence and mortality rates in Western Europe. Each year approximately 28,000 new cancer cases are diagnosed and 11,000 die from the disease on an island of over 5 million people. Although sizeable progress has been made against lung cancer, overall cancer rates remain above the average for European countries.

Learn more about cancer services in Ireland and Northern Ireland.

Mission

In 1999, a historic memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed by representatives of Ireland, Northern Ireland, and the U.S. that established the Ireland-Northern Ireland-NCI Cancer Consortium. The mission of the Consortium is to lessen the burden due to cancer across the island of Ireland through cross-border collaborations in cancer research and education. The Consortium has developed a number of joint programs covering the entire continuum of cancer, including prevention, clinical trials, cancer registry and epidemiology, and scholar exchange. In 2006, the memorandum of understanding was extended for five more years and signed by the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services; Northern Ireland's Minister for Health, Social Services and Public Safety; and Ireland's Minister for Health and Children. It was expanded to include collaborations in health economics and biobanking.

Areas of scientific collaborations included in the MOU:






To learn more about the Consortium, view the Consortium Fact Sheet or visit our Programs.