Each year, the week between May 25 and 31 serves as European Week Against Cancer. Unfortunately, most of us have had dealings with this illness, either personally or by being close to a person who has gone through this experience.
Over three million people in the EU are diagnosed with cancer every year and 1.3 million people sadly pass away, which shows that, although a lot has been achieved in health policy at an EU level, it is still far from enough. In the European Parliament, I am part of the MEPs Against Cancer Interest Group, a number of MEPs who are committed to working together to improve cancer control and prevention in Europe.
If we do not act, by 2035, cancer will increase by 24 per cent and become the leading cause of death in the EU.
The last European action plan against cancer was developed in the early 1990s and the world has seen major progress in cancer treatment in the years since. Personalised medicine tailored to individual situations and needs has radically changed patients’ prognoses.
It is for this reason that we are committed to implementing Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan, which is a political commitment to turn the tide against cancer and another stepping stone towards a strong European Health Union and a more secure, better prepared and more resilient EU.
This plan includes several initiatives, all aimed at saving as many lives as possible. One of the key aspects is to make sure that we have a suitable, sustainable cancer prevention plan.
About 40 per cent of the cancer cases are preventable and, with an effective prevention strategy, we can prevent illnesses, save lives and reduce suffering.
Together, the EU can work towards a tobacco-free generation, ensuring that less than five per cent of the population uses tobacco by 2040, reduce harmful alcohol consumption and decrease young people’s exposure to alcohol marketing. Reducing environmental pollution will also reduce exposure to carcinogenic substances and radiation.
Cancer can be a beatable illness but only if we start implementing change today- Alex Agius Saliba
In my work as an MEP, I have stated time and time again that each EU citizen should be treated fairly and equally. Everyone should have the same right to high-quality care, diagnosis and treatment, the same access to medicines and the same hope of survival, regardless of where they live. But survival rates following treatment for breast cancer vary by 20 per cent between countries and the five-year survival for colon cancer ranges from 49 per cent to 68 per cent.
Equal access also means improving early detection of cancer, which can help save lives and this currently also varies wildly across the different European states. The EU cancer plan provides for an EU platform to improve access to cancer medicines as well as support for the cancer workforce through an inter-specialty training programme.
Crucially, we must care for patients in their entire journey wherever this may lead. We must be positive and acknowledge that there are estimated to be over 12 million cancer survivors in Europe, including around 300,000 childhood cancer survivors.
While this is a reason for optimism, there also needs to be appropriate follow-up care, access to social protection and equal access to financial services, including insurance.
We must always remember that cancer can be a beatable illness but only if we start implementing change today. Let us not be the generation that had the opportunity to implement change and failed but let us work together to implement the Beating Cancer Plan which will save lives and ease suffering for generations to come.
Alex Agius Saliba, Labour Party MEP