Audit criticizes France's anticancer institute

After only one year in existence, France's National Cancer Institute (INCa) "finds itself severely criticized by an auditors' report" issued by the French Ministry of Finance, according to French daily newspaper Le Monde. Other local media reports speak of a "heavy blow" and "overwhelming condemnation" for the troubled agency. The report itself uses more measured language, stating that the INCa "has not been up to the standard," whilst exonerating the Institute's president, David Khayat, of the specific charges of corrupt practice that had triggered the audit in an anonymous letter distributed in March this year.

The agency was launched in May last year as a centerpiece of President Jacques Chirac's second term. Although the INCa is only a year old, questions are being asked about its usefulness. The auditors say that research projects have been created in an improvized fashion "without stategic discussion, neither in management meetings assembling departmental managers, nor by either the scientific council or the board." The report adds that "the synergy between care and research, the founding principle of the INCa, is not clearly the intervention criteria for the Institute."

The INCa's mission statement is: to observe and evaluate the arsenal of weapons against cancer; to define best practices in oncology and the standards for care facilities and professional qualifications; to inform professionals and the public; participate in the continuous training and validation of doctors and paramedics on cancer treatments; to commission, finance and coordinate research; to develop public-private partnerships in the domains of prevention, epidemiology, genetic analysis, research, education and care; participate in the development of European and global initiatives; and to provide, at the request of concerned government departments, its expertise on questions relating to oncology and the struggle against cancer.