The EC launched a public consultation to help shape the EU’s Beating Cancer plan. They aim at presenting a final draft of the plan before the end of the year.
On 4 February, the European Commission (EC) launched a public consultation on Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan with a large event opened by the Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, in the European Parliament (EP). The event aimed to mark the EU’s strong commitment to fighting cancer and enjoyed the support of the MEP’s against Cancer Interest Group. It brought together citizens, cancer patients and survivors as well as a wide range of stakeholders from politics and the health sector. The date was no coincidence either, taking place on the 20th anniversary of World Cancer Day.
Tackling cancer is of great importance to the EU, as it will affect up to 40% of its citizens in the course of their life, and the number of total cases is expected to double by 2035. However, with the current knowledge, 40% of cases could be prevented if the correct measures were to be taken. Ursula von der Leyen has therefore made the fight against cancer one of her priorities and tasked Stella Kyriakides, Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, to develop a ‘Beating Cancer Plan’ in her Mission Letter. The plan will outline actions for four key stages of the disease: 1) prevention measures, 2) early detection and diagnosis, 3) treatment and care and measures to improve their outcomes, and 4) quality of life. The Commission expects the plan to lead to a new era in cancer prevention and care. It will be patient-centred and should make a difference to Europe’s citizens, patients and health systems. A final version of the plan is to be ready before the end of 2020 and should support Member States in improving care and control.
The public consultation, aimed at citizens and key stakeholders, will directly feed into the outline of the plan. The feedback should help to shape the plan, identify key areas and scope, and explore future actions. The consultation will be open for 12 weeks. After the consultation, a discussion of the plan with Member States and targeted stakeholders will follow before the summer. The consultation on the plan itself is accompanied by a second consultation on the roadmap for the plan, which lasts until 3 March. While the roadmap is already published, the feedback therein will serve to further develop and fine-tune the initiative, and will issue in a report.
Research and innovation (R&I) play an important role in the fight against cancer, and the European framework programmes (FP) provide a substantial contribution. In the current FP Horizon 2020, 980 projects funded with a total of €1.2 bn focus on the disease. The next FP, Horizon Europe, starting in 2021, will feature a dedicated Cancer Mission, which aspires to attack the challenge in a broader sense including policy and citizens beyond R&I actions. A mission board of 15 experts is currently busy defining the target and scope of the mission and are due to present a concrete mission title by May this year.