Debate: Strengthening Europe in the fight against cancer
Date: TUESDAY, 15 FEBRUARY 2022
Speaker: Stella Kyriakides
Language: EN

The European Parliament and the Special Committee on Beating Cancer (BECA Committee) have played a crucial role in this journey since we took the very first steps towards Europe’s beating cancer plan over two years ago. We are determined to successfully tackle cancer, to strengthen prevention, treatment and care, to eradicate inequalities, to improve research, and to make a concrete difference to the lives of citizens by working together. For many of us, this plan, its prioritisation, its implementation, its every action, is also personal. We have each been touched by cancer in different ways. Personally, in our families, in our friends, our colleagues, and now, we have an opportunity, an opportunity with this plan, Europe’s plan, to make a real difference. I am particularly grateful to the members of the BECA Committee, the rapporteur MEP Véronique Trillet-Lenoir, and the shadow rapporteurs for their dedication and passionate work on the report. I want to thank you for the many extensive and constructive exchanges we had during last year. We share the same vision. This is the first time Europe has a plan that has EUR 4 billion allotted to it for its actions. A plan that looks at the whole picture.  First of all, prevention – this is the most effective way to tackle cancer. We need to give citizens the tools and information they need to live healthier lives, and this is why we will update the European Code against Cancer, so citizens can have specific recommendations on how they can reduce their risk of cancer. We want to improve health literacy, achieve a tobacco-free Europe, reduce harmful alcohol consumption, and improve health promotion. These are all achievable goals that will improve people’s lives and health in tangible and concrete ways. The second area that concerns prevention and where we will be working intensively this year is to update the recommendation on cancer screening. Screening saves lives and we will make sure that citizens across the EU can benefit from our future EU-supported cancer screening schemes. Early diagnosis saves lives – this is not a cliché, this is a fact. Preventing cancer at the work place is key. Today, 52% of annual occupational deaths in the EU can be attributed to work-related cancers. This is why we are particularly happy that in December we agreed on the fourth revision of the Carcinogens and Mutagens Directive. This important step will help us to improve the protection of more than 1 million workers in the EU. Another important goal of the cancer plan, reiterated also in your report, is to ensure that all patients across the EU, regardless of where they live, have access to quality-assured diagnostics and treatments. It is simply unacceptable that where you live in the EU determines your diagnosis, treatment and level of care. In this respect, at the end of 2021, we launched the EU network linking national comprehensive cancer centres, which will enable countries to work together to treat patients with complex conditions. Only two weeks ago, we launched the Cancer Inequalities Registry, an important tool to identify the trends, the disparities and the inequalities between Member States and regions and to help us channel investments where they are most needed. However, high-quality cancer care relies on a high-quality workforce, and this is also highlighted in the BECA report. The new inter-speciality cancer-training programme aims to deliver a more skilled and mobile cancer workforce through cross-border training and information sharing. The plan also addresses quality of life issues. Social integration is crucial and I am very pleased that we will very soon present a report on fair access for those whose lives have been touched by cancer to financial services. This is a guide to our work on an important issue: the right to be forgotten, now recognised in many Member States.   Today is International Childhood Cancer Awareness Day, and I pay tribute to those children, their parents, their siblings, their families, who go through this journey. To support the lives of the young people and the survivors whose lives have been touched by cancer, we have launched an EU network of youth cancer survivors to connect them and their families, as well as social and health professionals active in cancer prevention and care across the EU. These are just some examples of our recent and upcoming initiatives on the implementation of this plan, of our plan. Honourable Members, the cancer plan is continuously working in tandem with the horizon mission on cancer, ensuring coherence between ambitious research goals and realistic policy aims. As you highlight in your report, research and innovation has a crucial role in our fight against cancer. We have recently launched the first calls under the Horizon Europe Programme, which will increase the understanding of cancer and support our initiatives on screening and quality of life. In the coming years, both initiatives will enhance research, innovation, data, digitalisation and new technologies. Today’s discussion comes at a time when COVID-19 has significantly impacted cancer care, delaying screening, delaying early diagnosis, postponing treatment and surgeries. This makes our plan, this makes a plan that is altogether our plan, and your report even more significant. We will also work hand in hand with this Parliament to reach out to the citizens, who are at the very centre of this plan, to all the various stakeholders and to Member States. The European Parliament and the BECA Committee have an indispensable and irreplaceable role. This is our common journey, and like that of a cancer patient and their family, it is a long and it is a winding road. We will walk along together in order to deliver what European citizens rightfully expect from us, to make a real difference against the realities of this disease, to make a real difference.