The European Commission presented, on Wednesday 1 February, during a high-level conference co-organised with the Swedish Presidency of the Council of the European Union, country profiles on cancer in the Member States, Iceland and Norway for 2023 under its new European Cancer Inequalities Registry.
This is one of the initiatives of the Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan (see EUROPE 12650/1). The documents are published under the responsibility of the Secretariat-General of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) with European financial support. This 2023 edition focuses on the eradication of inequalities.
The new Registry consists of three elements: a data tool, which will provide indicators on cancer inequalities and which will be regularly updated by the Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC), national cancer profiles, and finally, reports on the performance of cancer care in Europe, which will be updated twice a year by the OECD.
The country profiles provide data for each state on cancer cases and types, risk factors, prevention policies and care data. The data presented are mainly based on official national statistics provided to Eurostat and the OECD as well as additional data provided by partners.
The documents, the Commission stresses, should help identify gaps and provide a basis for policy action to identify appropriate national and European investment and support to reduce these inequalities.
An OECD representative pointed out that, overall, cancer mortality has declined in the EU, but the human cost remains significant: cancer is the second leading cause of death in the EU and 2.6 million cancers were detected in 2020. National funding for prevention has increased in recent years, but still represents only 3.4% of total health expenditure in Europe.
Disparities between Member States persist. They are linked to varying exposure to risk factors and disparities in the capacity of health systems to provide access to early diagnosis and accessible care. As the population ages, an increase in cancer cases is expected.
Actions that governments can take, according to the OECD, include encouraging healthy lifestyles and prevention, especially for preventable cancers, improving access to early diagnosis and health care, and improving the quality of care and resilience of health systems to ensure continuity of care. There is room for improvement in targeted actions for people on low incomes or with low levels of education.
In addition, the Commission is preparing a proposal for an EU Council recommendation on vaccine-preventable cancers to help Member States improve vaccination rates and access to vaccination against human papillomavirus and hepatitis B. A call for contribution is open from 9 January to 6 February.
This initiative should be part of a ‘Prevention Package’ foreseen in the Commission’s work programme for the third quarter of 2023, including other measures such as an initiative on smoke-free environments.
The Commission recalls that the ‘Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan’ is not only a financial instrument. It is also a mix of public policy instruments and funding.
Four billion euros is specifically dedicated to the cancer plan under EU4Health, but various programmes also contribute to the fight against cancer: the cohesion funds, Horizon Europe and in particular its ‘cancer mission’, the ‘reform and resilience plans’ (15 billion euros has been mobilised for the resilience of health systems) or the recommendations under the European Semester.
Link to the Registry: https://aeur.eu/f/561 (Original version in French by Émilie Vanderhulst)