The ECCA Code of Practice for Interacting with Industry

General Terms:

The ECCA will only accept funds for activities that are consistent with our mission and objectives.

In all cases, the ECCA will invite multiple funders to provide support and the ECCA will work diligently to obtain funding from more than one source.

The ECCA will only accept funds from a company once a written legal agreement including the key elements of this code of practice has been executed by both the ECCA and the company. The written agreement will state the amount of funding, the terms of payment, the purpose of the funding, and provide a description of any significant indirect support or other forms of non-financial support that may be included.

Funding for core activities:

Funds for core activities will only be accepted on an unconditional basis. To avoid undue reliance on any particular company, the ECCA will work to diversify funding sources as much as possible to avoid conflicts of interest and secure independence.

Funding for projects:

Funds for projects will only be accepted without any conditions imposed on the design or conduct of the project to guarantee full independence. Any resulting publication will be the exclusive property of the ECCA, may not be used or quoted by the funder without written permission from the ECCA and in any case may not be used to promote a specific product or business of the funder.

Funding for events:

The ECCA may accept funds or assistance in kind to hold specific events. All events organised by the ECCA will be held in an appropriate venue that is conducive to the main purpose of the event and the ECCA will specifically avoid locations or venues that are ‘extravagant’. Funders will not exercise control over the programme content or choice of speakers.

Transparency and acknowledgement of funding:

The ECCA will clearly acknowledge all sources of funding in a designated section of the ECCA website. The size of the funder’s logo and name as well as the total space dedicated to the mention of the funder will be modest to avoid being perceived as an advertisement.

Use of ECCA name/logo:

The ECCA name/logo will not be used to promote a specific product, device or service that is manufactured, marketed or distributed by companies operating in the healthcare industry. The ECCA name/logo can be used by companies in the healthcare industry within the context of promoting awareness and uptake of cervical cancer prevention actions or programmes including cervical cancer screening and HPV vaccination provided these consistent with the mission and objectives of the ECCA, or in the interest of enhancing transparency in relationships between such companies and the ECCA. However, in these cases the ECCA name/logo can only be used on printed or electronic documents that have been submitted to the ECCA for review and for which written consent from the ECCA has been obtained.

Use of ECCA published materials:

All materials published by the ECCA will be available to any person or organisation, including companies operating in the healthcare industry, who wish to use them for non-commercial purposes. Should the company wish to quote any of the published statements or recommendations of the ECCA, it is free to do so provided that the reference is properly cited, as would be required when quoting any published material. Reproduction, circulation or distribution of any materials produced by the ECCA may be done only with the prior written consent of the ECCA.

Endorsement of Products:

The ECCA will not endorse a specific product, device or service that is manufactured, marketed or distributed by companies in the healthcare industry including but not limited to:

  • Disseminating unbalanced, non-validated or partial information about a product, device or service which is produced, marketed or provided by a company
  • Being quoted in a company’s corporate communications as being in favour of, or against a specific product