Brussels, 04/02/2016 (Agence Europe) - World Cancer Day is being celebrated on Thursday 4 February and was greeted in a number of different ways by the European community.
The European Commission obviously highlighted the EU action taken to tackle this deadly disease, particularly through a variety of strategies and funding, such as the Horizon 2020 programme and research projects. Michèle Rivasi (Greens/EFA, France) used the event as an opportunity to “denounce the European Commission's culpability with regard to its attitude to endocrine disruptors”. She added that “in March 2015, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), the WHO body, acknowledged that glyphosate was 'probably carcinogenic' but was still being used as if it were nothing of the sort. This did not prevent the European Commission from authorising several glyphosate resistant GMOs” (see EUROPE 11482).
In a speech published on Thursday 4 February, Commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis emphasised that he was at a very high risk of getting this disease, given that three of his brothers had had the disease. He stated, “one out of three cancers can be avoided by adopting a healthy lifestyle”.
It should be pointed out that the first European anti-cancer programme was developed in 1985. Since then, the Union has set out a Council recommendation in 2003 on cancer screening (2003/878/EC), screening guidelines (2006) for breast cancer, cervical cancer (2008) cancer of the colon (2010) and a communication for a “European partnership against cancer” (2009-2013). So far, 25 out of the 28 member states have a national cancer programme (as opposed to 17 in 2009). Slovakia and Bulgaria have no national strategy on fighting against cancer. The Netherlands had one but it was not renewed. (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)