Cancer diagnostics – Image Pixabay
(BRUSSELS) – Lung cancer is by far the most common cause of death from cancer in Europe, the Commission reported Wednesday in the first country cancer profiles under the European Cancer Inequalities Registry.
Ahead of World Cancer Day on 4 February, the Commission and OECD presented Wednesday the Country Cancer Profiles for all EU Member States, Norway and Iceland.
These show that EU countries spent a substantial amount, nearly 170 billion, on cancer care (in 2018). There are also large inequalities in cancer mortality rates between and within EU countries. This can be partly explained by varying exposure to risk factors for cancer, but also by the different capacity of health systems to provide timely and free access to early diagnosis, high quality of cancer care and treatment. The Profiles show that identifying challenges and sharing best practices between Member States can help countries address cancer inequalities.
The Profiles are being launched during a high-level conference in the framework of the Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan: ‘Conference on cancer – Equity, excellence and innovation: modern cancer care for all’, co-organised by the Commission and the Swedish Presidency of the Council of the European Union.
The Country Cancer Profiles highlight other key facts:
- Representing 26% of all deaths, cancer is the second cause of mortality in the EU after circulatory diseases.
- There is almost a two-fold difference in cancer mortality across countries, and there are wide disparities in cancer mortality across gender.
- There are broad socio-economic inequalities in cancer mortality. Such disparities are partly explained by differences in exposure to risk factors such as smoking, obesity, harmful alcohol consumption or air pollution. Overall risk factors tend to be more prevalent among men and among low-income and low-education groups.
- The challenges EU countries face in providing high quality cancer care differ. Some countries are well equipped, but face shortages in qualified health care staff, while others have a high number of qualified physicians, but lack, for example, radiation therapy equipment.
- Spending on prevention increased over the past years. However, it still only accounts for 3,4% of overall health spending.
Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan is making progress, with the launch on 23 January of the European Cancer Imaging Initiative to support healthcare providers, research institutes and innovators in making the best use of innovative data-driven solutions for cancer treatment and care.
A new Council Recommendation on cancer screening adopted in December 2022 is also a key element of a new EU-funded Cancer Screening Scheme, which seeks to offer breast, cervical and colorectal cancer screening to 90% of eligible Europeans and has been extended to cover lung, prostate, and in certain conditions, gastric cancer.
Among upcoming initiatrives this year, the Commission will present a proposal for a Council recommendation on vaccine-preventable cancers, along with an update of the 2009 Council recommendation on smoke-free environments to increase the protection of citizens against tobacco and help deliver on the target of a Tobacco-Free Generation by 2024.
Factsheet – EU Cancer Plan: where are we now?
Factsheet Country Cancer Profiles
