On Thursday 9 December the European Parliament's Special Committee on Beating Cancer (BECA) adopted Véronique Trillet-Lenoir's report for a strengthened role for the EU in the fight against cancer by an overwhelming majority (29 votes in favour, 1 against, 4 abstentions).
Parliamentarians would like to see the EU strengthen its involvement (see EUROPE 12650/1), particularly with regard to patients.
The report adopted on Thursday stresses the need to guarantee a “right to be forgotten” for all Europeans with cancer and to facilitate their access to cross-border healthcare - two elements missing from the plan presented by the European Commission in February.
First of all, MEPs say the “right to be forgotten” should be guaranteed by all Member States to all European patients ten years after the end of their treatment and up to five years after the end of treatment for patients diagnosed before the age of 18. This is to be implemented by 2025 at the latest.
This right, which exists in a few States, avoids penalising patients after they have recovered. Many survivors and patients in long-term remission experience difficulties in accessing financial and other services due to their medical history.
MEPs are calling for a reform of the directive on cross-border healthcare to allow, among other things, patient mobility and ensure that they can access highly specialised care.
They suggest that the Commission put in place a single set of rules to authorise and reimburse cross-border healthcare. They are also calling on the EU and Member States to support the development of “European multicentre clinical trials”, especially for cancers with limited treatment options.
It is also worth noting that MEPs would be in favour of extending the use of joint procurement procedures to cancer medicines.
Prevention
Finally, like the Commission, MEPs have considered the issue of prevention in detail.
They “strongly” support the Commission’s objective of a “tobacco-free generation” and encourage an increase in minimum excise duties for all tobacco products and their final market price as well as a strict enforcement of the ban on flavourings in tobacco products.
In particular, they are calling on the Commission to assess which flavours in e-cigarettes are particularly attractive to minors and non-smokers and to propose a ban on these.
Finally, they advocate improving the labelling of alcoholic beverages to include health warnings, as well as banning alcohol advertising at sporting events mainly attended by minors and prohibiting sport sponsorship by alcohol brands.
For more details: https://bit.ly/3Gs8zMG (Original version in French by Agathe Cherki)