Objective: The objective of this virtual event is to link EU CANCER PLAN and Beca Report with Country specific recommendations in order to reduce the Inequalities for (lung) cancer patients between and within Member States with focus on Eastern Europe.

Background:

Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan is one of the key pillars of the European Health Union project. For the successful implementation of the Plan, significant multi-level cooperation between institutions, member states, regional and local authorities as well as social partners and civil society organisations is required, in particular to bridge the important disparities in cancer prevention and access to cancer care between and within European countries. These inequalities have a deep impact on cancer incidence rates, survival and mortality across the EU. Strengthening EU cooperation to boost cancer research, innovation and new technologies in the fight against cancer and health inequalities is one of the underlying tools to ensure the highest standards of cancer care and equitable access for all Europeans, no matter where they live, and therefore one of the priorities of the BECA draft report.

The BECA draft report provides a wide range of concrete actions and tools in the fields of health and cancer research where the EU can complement and support national efforts to defeat cancer.

On 14 October 2021, Members of the Special Committee on Beating Cancer considered the 1,537 amendments tabled to the draft report on “Strengthening Europe in the fight against cancer – towards a comprehensive and coordinated strategy”. The amendments concern among others prevention, including in the area of tobacco, alcohol and nutrition, paediatric and rare cancers and the protection of workers from work-related cancers; others request more funding for promising research. In their amendments, Members also encourage more cooperation and coordination in the fight against cancer among member states and by the Commission, including improving the cross-border healthcare directive and further strengthening the European Reference Networks.

In November 2021, a delegation of 7 Members of the Special Committee on Beating Cancer, led by Chair Bartosz Arłukowicz and Rapporteur Véronique Trillet-Lenoir, traveled to Geneva and Lyon. The scope of the meeting was to meet with public health experts, academics, researchers and health care professionals to discuss what has been done on the ground to step up the fight against cancer, not least in the context of the current pandemic, which has affected cancer prevention and care greatly.  https://www.europarl.europa.eu/committees/en/strengthening-europe-in-the-fight-agains/product-details/20211020CAN63734)

Taking into consideration the tabled amendments and also the assessment following the public consultations, the main concern raised by BECA Members is the topic of inequalities in cancer prevention and care between and within Member States.