1. 7. 89 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 164/11 
II 
(Preparatory Acts) 
COMMISSION 
Draft Council resolution concerning an action plan 1990 to 1994 in the framework of the 
Europe against cancer programme 
COM(89) 210 final 
(Submitted by the Commission on 11 May 1989) 
(89/C 164/05) 
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, 
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European 
Communities, 
Having regard to the draft resolution submitted by the 
Commission, 
Having regard to the opinion of the European 
Parliament, 
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and 
Social Committee, 
Whereas, pursuant to Article 2 of the Treaty establishing 
the European Economic Community, it is the 
Community's task to promote throughout the 
Community a harmonious development of economic 
activities, a continuous and balanced expansion, and an 
accelerated raising of the standard of living; 
Whereas the European Councils held in June 1985 in 
Milan and in December 1985 in Luxembourg underlined 
the advantages of launching a European programme 
against cancer; 
Whereas in December 1986 in London the European 
Council decided that 1989 should be designated 
European cancer information year and specified that the 
aim would be to develop a sustained and concerted 
information campaign in all the Member States on the 
prevention, early screening and treatment of cancer; 
Whereas the Council and the Representatives of the 
Governments of the Member States, meeting within the 
Council, have adopted a resolution on a programme of action of the European Communities against cancer (x) 
which is concerned principally with cancer prevention; 
Whereas the Council and the Representatives of the 
Governments of the Member States, meeting within the 
Council, have adopted Decision 88/351/EEC (2) on a 
1988 to 1989 action plan for an information and public 
awareness campaign in the context of the Europe against 
cancer programme; 
Whereas various Community actions to prevent cancers 
arising from exposure to ionizing radiation or exposure 
to chemical carcinogens are already being carried out 
under the Treaties establishing the European Economic 
Community and the European Atomic Energy 
Community; 
Whereas actions to reduce the risk of cancer from 
exposure to carcinogenic substances are included in a 
number of existing Community programmes on the en­
vironment, worker protection, consumer protection, 
nutrition, agriculture and the internal market; 
Whereas the present action plan would increase 
knowledge about the causes of cancer and the possible 
means of preventing and treating it; 
Whereas by ensuring a wider dissemination of 
knowledge of the causes, prevention, screening and 
treatment of cancer, as well as an improvement in the 
comparability of information about those matters, in 
particular concerning the nature and degree of risk of 
cancer arising from exposure to given substances or 
processes, the programme will contribute to the 
achievement of Community objectives, while contri­
buting to the overall reduction of risks of cancer; 
Whereas it is advisable to promote the diffusion and the 
implementation of recommendations on the oncology 
content of training programmes which were approved in 
1988 by the three advisory committees on training of 
health personnel; 
0) OJ No C 184, 23. 7. 1986, p. 19. 
(2) OJ No L 160, 28. 6. 1988, p. 52. 
No C 164/12 Official Journal of the European Communities 1. 7. 89 
Whereas it is advisable to support training actions in 
respect of cancer for health personnel of one Member 
State in leading training centres in another Member 
State; 
Whereas duplications of effort should be avoided by the 
promotion of exchanges of experience and by the devel­
opment of common basic information modules for the 
public, and for the training of members of the health 
professions; 
Whereas it is advisable to continue and strengthen, from 
1990 to 1994, action undertaken between 1987 and 1989 in the fields of prevention, information and health 
education, and training of the health professions, and 
whereas to this end the amount of the Community 
contribution deemed necessary amounts to ECU 55 
million, 
INVITES THE COMMISSION: 
1. to implement the 1990 to 1994 action plan set out in 
Annex I; 
2. to keep the European Parliament and the Council 
informed of progress. 
ANNEX I 
ACTIONS TO BE IMPLEMENTED IN 1990 to 1994 
During the period 1990 to 1994, information on the progress of the Europe against cancer programme, 
and on the possibilities of Community financing in the following fields of action will be published regulary: 
I. Cancer prevention 
(including screening) 
A. Fight against tobacco addiction 
— stimulation of projects of European interest concerning the prevention of tobacco smoking among 
youngsters and women, 
— stimulation of smoking prevention actions of European interest among educational personnel and 
health professionals, 
— support of pilot actions promoting the teaching of tobacco-use cessation methods among health 
professionals and educational personnel, 
— support for innovative information campaigns to prevent smoking among the general public and in 
the workplace; 
B. Nutrition and cancer (including alcohol) 
— launch of European-wide combined analyses (meta-analysis) of existing data on nutrition and 
cancer, 
— extension of European case-control studies on links between nutrition and cancer to areas not 
covered in the first action plan, 
— completion of the feasibility studies, launched in the first 1987 to 1989 action plan and of European 
prospective studies on nutrition and cancer, 
— launch of European-wide studies on the potential benefits of certain anti-promoting agents, 
— drafting of guidelines on nutrition aimed at improving cancer prevention; 
C. Fight against carcinogenic agents 
— continuation of all Community actions concerning protection against ionizing radiation, 
— support of studies and actions of European interest aiming at improving protection against ultra­
violet radiation, 
— continuation of European studies on the possible carcinogenic risk of certain chemical substances, 
— continuation of classification and labelling of carcinogenic substances at European level; 
1. 7. 89 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 164/13 
D. Systematic screening and early diagnosis 
— continuation of comparative studies concerning the improvement of the organization of cancer 
screening policies, 
— extension and monitoring of the European network of breast cancer screening pilot programme, 
— evaluation studies of existing cervical cancer screening programmes and setting up of a European 
network of pilot regional or local programmes, 
— continuation of evaluation studies on screening programmes for colo-rectal cancer and eventual 
setting-up of a European network, 
— promotion of studies of European interest on the efficiency and the feasibility of screening and early 
detection of other cancers; 
E. Cancer registration and similar actions 
— support of the establishment of cancer registries throughout the European Community and 
setting-up of a European network, 
— link-up of existing bone marrow banks and feasibility study on a European registry. 
II. Information and health education 
A. Public information 
— eventual updating of the European code against cancer, 
— renewal each year of a European information action on cancer during the second week of October, 
— production of European television programmes on prevention, screening and treatment of cancers, 
— diffusion of the European code to the general public by the partners of the programme, 
— support for innovative actions for cancer information on cancer prevention among targeted groups, 
— steady evaluation of the efficacy of the efforts made; 
B. Health education in cancer prevention 
— support of information and awareness of education personnel about the European code against 
cancer, 
— dissemination of educational supports for health education, 
— promotion of pilot action promoting awareness of the European code among young people. 
III. Training of the health professions 
— support to the organization of national or regional meetings to promote the 1989 European recommen­
dations on the cancerology content of basic training programmes for health personnel, 
— support for the setting-up of three European pilot networks of medical schools, dental faculties and 
nursing schools implementing the recommendations on the cancer content of training formulated in 
1988 by the three advisory committees on training of health personnel, 
— promotion of actions in training in cancer in the framework of the specific training of general practi­
tioners, 
— encourage the mobility between Member States of health professionals in courses of specialized training 
in cancerology, 
— collection and exchange of teaching materials of European interest for training education of health 
personnel, 
No C 164/14 Official Journal of the European Communities 1. 7. 89 
— exchanging experiences and support for the organization of European seminars for the continuing 
education of health personnel, 
— exchange of experience between Member States in anti-pain treatments, in palliative and continuing 
care, and on the role of health personnel, notably GPs and nurses, in cancer treatment. 
IV. Research on cancer 
— submission of proposals for a fifth medical and health research coordination programme and the sixth 
medical ECSC research programme. 
ANNEX II 
Indicative budgetary allocation 
(in %) 
Prevention 
— (Fight against tobacco addiction) 
— (Improvement of nutrition) 
— (Screening) 
— (Other) 
Training 
Information 
Health education 1988 
40,1 
(9) 
(8) 
(14) 
(9,1) 
6,1 
47,4 
6,3 1989 
40 
(12) 
(10) 
(13) 
(5) 
8 
40 
12 1990 to 1994 
estimate 
50 
(15) 
(20) 
(10) 
(5) 
18 
15 
17