Letter to European politicians urges them align actions on cancer
Organisations supporting prostate cancer patients, including Europa Uomo, have written to European politicians urging them to implement targets on the road towards prostate cancer early detection strategies being in place across Europe by 2027.
The first target is for the European Commission to publish new guidelines on risk stratified prostate cancer screening by 2024. By 2026, at least five EU member states should have incorporated these guidelines into their national cancer plans. And by 2027, all EU member states should have in place a clear strategy for risk-stratified early detection in all men turning 50 years old.
The targets have been jointly compiled by Europa Uomo, the European Association of Urology, the European Cancer Patient Coalition and the European Randomised Study on Prostate Cancer Screening project. The organisations have pressed hard for early detection programmes, and early this year the European Commission announced it would investigate their feasibility, as part of work on the European Beating Cancer Plan.
Now, having providing evidence at the European Parliament’s Special Committee on Beating Cancer (BECA), the organisations have presented the new targets in a letter (available for download) to all Members of the European Parliament (MEPs).
“We urge MEPs to make further recommendations that will ensure that all initiatives of Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan align and work towards the achievement of clear and tangible goals,” say the signatories, including André Deschamps, Chairman of Europa Uomo.
“In order to overcome the increasing trend of rising mortality rates from prostate cancer, we suggest that the targets be implemented in the context of the EU’s Beating Cancer Plan.”
“This programme will require coordination with other components of the Cancer Plan, such as the Comprehensive Cancer Centres and the Inter-specialty Training Scheme in order to make sure that there are centres of excellence in each country and that all specialists are well aligned to the new guidelines.”