MEPs call for EU cancer task force 

Parliament's Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety adopted, on 29 January 2008, a motion for a resolution on Combating cancer in the enlarged EU .

The MEPs note that, according to WHO estimates, at least a third of all cancer cases are preventable and that prevention offers the most cost-effective, long-term strategy for the control of cancer. Furthermore, another third of the cancer burden could be cured if detected earlier and treated adequately, the MEPs point out.

Therefore, the resolution urges member states to implement statutory cancer registration and ensure capacity for population-based evaluation of programmes for prevention, screening, treatment and survival. 

The Commission is asked to support prevention through the promotion of healthy lifestyles and by encouraging research and innovation in the area of screening, early detection, anti-cancer medicines and treatments. Regarding the latter, MEPS argue that the differences in the quality of cancer-treatment facilities, screening programmes and access to new anti-cancer drugs "are among the reasons for the big differences in the five-year survival rate from most cancers across Europe". 

The resolution also calls on the Commission to set up an institutionalised EU Cancer Task Force to provide leadership for improved cancer control in Europe. Composed of members of the Commission, the Council and the Parliament, the task force would meet on a regular basis to collect and exchange best practices for prevention, screening and treatment. 

"An average of only 3% of health budgets are spent on cancer prevention [...] We need to get our act together and invest in cancer prevention," said MEP John Bowis, who referred to cancer as being at "epidemic levels".

Reducing cancer is a top priority for the current Slovenian EU presidency. A presidency conference on "How to Reduce the Burden of Cancer?" will take place on 7-8 February 2008.