BCLEAR partners gather in Budapest to advance bladder cancer health literacy
Early diagnosis can change everything for someone with bladder cancer, yet too many people still miss the first warning signs. Closing that gap is why the BCLEAR partners came together in Budapest on September 4, 2026 for our annual BCLEAR consortium meeting.
Over a full day of discussion, partners from across Europe reviewed the project's progress and mapped out the next steps. Conversation centred on the educational resources now taking shape for both the public and healthcare professionals, and on the national initiatives being developed in Greece, Hungary and Poland, the three countries at the heart of BCLEAR's work.
These national initiatives are being led together with our partners in each country: the Hellenic Urological Association (HUA), the Hungarian Urological Society (HUS) and the Polish Urological Association (PTU).
The citizen toolbox of educational resources will bring clear, reliable information to patients, carers and the wider public across three areas: prevention and timely diagnosis, non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) and muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC). Its core message is a simple one: blood in the urine should always be checked. Bladder cancer is diagnosed in around 614,000 people worldwide each year, some 224,800 of them in Europe, and while roughly three in four cases are in men, women often wait longer for a diagnosis. Recognising the signs early can save lives.
The project is also developing a companion toolbox for healthcare professionals (HCPs), designed to support shared decision-making and patient-centred care. It brings together guidance on why these approaches matter, what resources are available, and how to put them into practice, across three connected strands: a shared decision-making implementation guide, good practice guidelines, and training in communication and psychosocial support. The two toolboxes are built to work together, with the patient resources giving people clear information and shared decision-making tools, and the professional resources helping clinicians understand, use and integrate them in everyday care. The aim is to have better informed, more engaged patients and more patient-centred clinical care.
We are grateful to all the partners who joined us in Budapest for their input throughout the day and for the great work they have put into this project so far. Bringing everyone into one room is a reminder of what we can achieve together to improve bladder cancer health literacy across Europe.
BCLEAR is coordinated by the European Association of Urology (EAU) and brings together the World Bladder Cancer Patient Coalition (WBCPC), the Association of European Cancer Leagues (ECL), WONCA Europe, the Hellenic Urological Association (HUA), the Hungarian Urological Society (HUS), the Polish Urological Association (PTU) and the Erasmus University Medical Center (EMC).
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