Boncoi Petre-Ionel
(Mayor of Valea Mare-Pravăț Commune)
“For me, the 4P-CAN project is, first and foremost, about giving everyone a chance—a chance for a better life. By promoting activities that help prevent serious diseases, the project provides people with the opportunity to enjoy a better quality of life and to take a more active role in protecting their health.
I believe the Health Festival brings significant benefits to our community. As the festival continues to grow and become more established each year, more and more people are encouraged to participate. This includes taking advantage of the medical consultations and health checks offered through the initiative. People hear about the festival from friends, neighbors, and family members, and because it takes place within their own community, they feel motivated to attend and get involved.
The Health Festival makes health services and preventive care more accessible, while also raising awareness about the importance of looking after our well-being. By bringing these opportunities closer to people, the 4P-CAN project helps communities become healthier, better informed, and more engaged in prevention.”
Marian Toader
(Mayor of Lerești Commune)
“For our community in Lerești, the 4P-CAN project has brought something new, innovative, and truly beneficial. We are already at the third edition of the Health Festival, and when an event reaches its third edition, it begins to become a tradition. Alongside the other traditions we cherish in Lerești, this festival has become a tradition in the field of health, and we intend to continue it together with the 4P-CAN project.
The Health Festival encourages people to exercise, socialize, and enjoy spending time together. This is especially evident through activities such as walking football, which bring the community together in a positive and engaging way. More importantly, all the activities carried out through the 4P-CAN project help us focus on prevention, care for people’s health, and provide opportunities for healthier and better lives.
For me, becoming a 4P-CAN Ambassador is both a great honor and a great joy. Beyond the recognition, I am proud to be part of a project that has such a positive impact on our community. We will certainly continue to support it and work to make it a permanent initiative for many years to come.”
Bogdan Dascălu
(Former Coach of ACS Zimbrii Lerești football team)
“I am delighted to be part of this project. Since I first became aware of it, the 4P-CAN project has represented a very important initiative, one focused on raising awareness about prevention. More importantly, it helps people understand where we come from, where we are, and where we are heading regarding health issues, screening, and the problems that may arise if we fail to understand the importance of preventing diseases, especially cancer. For the community here, it represents an innovative, pilot initiative in which we are on the front line. It is a project that we hope will resonate nationally, if not across Europe. It is a project in which we place great hope and believe will succeed.”
Marian Avrigeanu
(Physical Education Teacher, Secondary School No. 1 Lerești)
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to become a 4P-CAN ambassador, and I would also like to thank Dr. Marius Geantă for proposing me as an ambassador for this project. As a sports teacher, this project has meant, first and foremost, a way of life, a way of rethinking our lifestyle. For children, I hope it highlights the joy of playing, the joy of practicing sports, and encourages them to lead healthy lives. From my perspective, this cancer prevention project is a great achievement. It is a model to follow and an initiative worthy of praise. It is no coincidence that it has reached the attention of the European Commission. Prevention is essential in every sport, whether football, handball, or others, but in healthcare I believe it has an even greater role to play.
Teodora Ungheanu
(competitive football player)
“My name is Teodora Ungheanu, I am 18 years old, and I played competitive football. I started playing when I was very young, with my school team, and over time I grew to love the sport more and more. Although an injury forced me to stop playing competitively after two years with FC Argeș in Pitești, sport remains an important part of my life.
I attended the Health Festival last year after hearing about it from my sports teacher, and I immediately found it to be a very interesting experience. What I appreciate most is the wonderful community that comes together around the Festival. It is a place where people can make friends, stay active, and enjoy meaningful experiences together.
I believe the Health Festival is truly beneficial for the community. It encourages people to be active and engaged, while also promoting better health. Even activities that may seem simple, such as walking football, can have a positive impact and help bring people together.
This year, I participated in the walking football competition. Although we did not achieve the same result as last year and finished in third place, we had a lot of fun and it was a wonderful experience. For me, the Health Festival is about much more than results—it is about friendship, community, and enjoying an active, healthy lifestyle.”
Alin Nicolescu
(PhD, MD, President of the Romanian Society for Lasers in Medicine and Surgery, General Secretary of the Romanian Society of Dermatology and Venereology, President of the Expert Commission of the National Health Insurance House, and Member of the American Academy of Dermatology)
“The 4P-CAN project means something truly extraordinary. It means understanding that prevention is not only necessary, it is the most important element of any healthcare system. It means ensuring and providing high-quality medical consultations to a community that may be more limited in access to such services. It means the trust that patients and community members place in us, because they often come without any known illness, simply to check their health status. It represents a change in mindset and in the way people perceive the healthcare system. It means prevention, lower risks, and a better quality of life for people in the community. It is an initiative that brings great joy to everyone involved.
The Health Festival is undoubtedly a project that should be expanded nationwide and implemented in as many communities as possible, starting with smaller localities such as this one. As you have seen, doctors respond to this initiative with great enthusiasm. Many of them are leading specialists in their fields. We have numerous university professors here who have chosen to spend a Saturday or several weekdays providing medical consultations. It is an extraordinary project and one that should be extended throughout the entire country.”
University of Aveiro
The University of Aveiro (UA) is a public foundation under private law, located in Portugal,
whose mission is to contribute to and develop graduate and postgraduate education and
training, research, and cooperation with society. Aveiro University is a research-focused
institution strongly committed to accomplish research that is recognized world-wide in some
strategic areas of knowledge. The 4PCAN project is being implemented by CINTESIS@RISE hub
of Aveiro University – a Research & Development Unit (R&D) that includes multidisciplinary
backgrounds, such as medicine and social sciences. This diversity of competences and
professional experiences allow researchers to work together to find multidisciplinary solutions
to relevant health problems. Social sciences professionals working on community integrated
solutions and patients and citizen engagement constitute a large part of CINTESIS@RISE hub of
Aveiro University.
Development and validation of an instrument to assess public perception of cancer primary prevention information
Cancer primary prevention (CPP), particularly through evidence-based recommendations like the 4th
European Code Against Cancer (ECAC4), represents a cost-effective strategy to reduce cancer burden. Dissemination
and implementation (D&I) of CPP strategies remain fragmented and inconsistent, and instruments to assess
dissemination of CPP are lacking. This study aimed to develop and validate an instrument to assess the public (i)
perceptions of CPP message characteristics, and (ii) public perceptions of ECAC4.
Adapting Longitudinal Personal Network Research Through Participation: Reflections From a Rural Study
Longitudinal personal network studies make unique contributions to understanding how social contexts evolve. These studies have primarily been conducted in structured environments, such as hospitals, schools, workplaces, or large urban populations, where participants are easily reached, and standardized tools can be applied. These conditions differ from those in rural communities, where services are scarce, commuting is a part of daily life, and survey literacy is low. This paper reports on a three-wave personal network panel in a rural Eastern European community, with two additional waves planned.
Milestone No. 7 – Communication campaigns preliminary results
This document presents the Communication Campaign Milestone No.7, covering the implementation period February-June 2026. It consolidates the first interim results of the European Code Against Cancer 5th Edition (ECAC5) communication campaigns implemented in Bulgaria and Romania under the Task 4.2.2: Strategic communication campaign for ECAC5 in Romania and Bulgaria (M34–M45), led by INOMED with the participation of the Bulgarian partner, BJCN.
