On the eve of World Cancer Day in February, the European Commission announced an ambitious roadmap to beat cancer and it was very pleasant music to my ears.
The European Beating Cancer Plan comes into sharper focus in the coming days as member states mark the European Week Against Cancer and concentrate on its implementation.
The plan seeks to target the disease pathway comprehensively, including prevention and early detection as its key action areas. The other key action areas are diagnosis and treatment, and the quality of life of cancer patients and survivors.
The age-old adage maintains that prevention is better than cure — it is also the most cost-efficient, long-term cancer control strategy. Research shows that almost 50 per cent of cancer cases in the EU are preventable, and we all have a part to play.
Benefitting from a whole-of-government approach, the Beating Cancer Plan aims to raise awareness of and address key risk factors, such as cancers caused by smoking, harmful alcohol consumption, obesity and lack of physical activity, exposure to pollution, carcinogenic substances and radiation, as well as cancers triggered by infectious agents.
It also takes into account health determinants, including education, socio-economic status, gender, age, and employment through advocacy and putting policy in place.
In addition, it will target inequalities in access to prevention and cancer care, affecting for example, elderly people, people with disabilities, or minorities.
The Beating Cancer Plan provides for the exchange of research findings between small and large member states and access to crucial health data on the potential causes of cancer and promising treatments for it.
Here, the Emanuele Cancer Research Foundation Malta, together with the teams of Maltese researchers who were recently awarded €1.2 million in grants, hopes to contribute to the sharing of a wealth of data across Europe.
The last cancer plan for the EU was launched in 1990, so a new version was long overdue.
The new plan has all the elements of a state-of-the-art, vibrant, health promotion initiative like no other before it.
What we truly need now is to move from the rhetoric to action. This means looking forward to seeing more funds directed towards cancer prevention, which can diminish so much suffering and premature deaths. Just as important is the availability and accessibility of cancer drugs through fair pricing.
In the words of the European Commission, Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan is a key pillar of a stronger European Health Union and a more secure, better prepared and more resilient EU.
Maryanne Massa is an advisor at the Emanuele Cancer Research Foundation Malta.