European Week against Cancer: Making a difference

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Stella Kyriakides the, European commissioner for health and food safety. [European Commission]

The European Week against Cancer is the time when the EU joins forces in the fight against cancer and we renew our commitment to improve the lives of those touched by this disease. Since 2020, Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan is the banner leading our way forward, writes Stella Kyriakides.

Stella Kyriakides is the European commissioner for health and food safety.

Time after time, the EU emerges from crises stronger and more relevant to citizens’ daily lives. Nowhere is this more true than in our work on health, particularly cancer. Still, too many persons in the EU are faced with a difficult cancer journey with an unknown destination.

This is what makes our work to build a European Health Union so important.

The reality today is that unless we reverse the trends, one in two people will likely develop cancer during their lifetime. We need to diagnose earlier, we need to optimise care. To do so, we must address the unacceptable gaps we see within the EU today when it comes to accessing high-quality diagnosis, treatment and care.

With Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan, we have made a clear commitment to reduce the impact of cancer in the EU and change the realities for cancer patients and families.

Every initiative delivered under the Cancer Plan over the last three years and the 30 actions we are working on this year is dedicated to ensuring that every citizen, no matter where they live, has access to the highest standards of cancer services.

The Cancer Plan is delivering concrete and tangible improvements across the EU: From boosting cancer research, launching an Inequalities Register to track differences in access to care and guide our support, to establishing the first EU network of Comprehensive Cancer Centres to improve cancer care and to introducing a Right to be Forgotten at EU level to address unfairness in accessing financial services.

In 2022, 20 years after the last cancer screening recommendations were adopted, and with medicine and technology having made incredible advances, we presented the new EU Cancer Screening Scheme.

Our new screening guidelines cover cancer types that account for almost 55% of all new cases diagnosed in the EU annually. With more citizens accessing high-quality screening programmes, we reduce the chances of late or missed diagnoses and save lives.

Widening the recommended age range for breast cancer screening to 45 and 74 years will ensure that more women will be checked. Screening will be offered for other common cancers, including cervical, colorectal, lung, prostate, and gastric cancers.

Earlier detection offers better treatment options. Screening saves lives.

It helps healthcare systems and economies. Cancer currently costs the EU economy over €100 billion per year. The Cancer Plan, and its every action, is an investment in our most precious commodity – our health.

This week, we are launching the #GetScreenedEU campaign to raise awareness of the needs for and benefits of cancer screening. Screening should no longer be something that results in uncertainty and fear. With targeted and less invasive procedures, it can become something that so many other of life’s tasks are – a routine appointment.

All of this is, of course, not only relevant to Europeans. Cancer is a global public health challenge affecting everyone. Europe has much to learn and offer by aligning its priorities with global partners. The US Moonshot Cancer Programme is a natural ally in our efforts.

We have already started a cooperation with the US to improve lung cancer screening and treatments for children with rare cancers as part of our new EU-US Health Task Force.

This political commitment, expertise and an unprecedented €4 billion in funding can bring positive change to cancer patients and their families. Ultimately, Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan belongs to every citizen. It has a goal that everyone can subscribe to and that all can participate in.

This European Week Against Cancer, let’s make a fresh start by booking our screening appointments.

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