Today, following the Commission's proposal to strengthen cancer prevention through early detection, the Council of the European Union has adopted a new approach on cancer screening. This is an important step to improve early detection throughout the EU, an important goal of the Europe's Beating Cancer Plan.
As announced in September, this new EU approach, based on the latest available scientific developments and evidence, will help ensuring that 90% of the EU population who qualify for breast, cervical and colorectal cancer screenings are offered such screening by 2025. The new approach also calls for extending screening programmes to prostate, lung and, under certain circumstances, gastric cancer, in a stepwise approach. The Recommendation is part of a new EU Cancer Screening Scheme, put forward as a flagship initiative of Europe's Beating Cancer Plan.
For breast, cervical and colorectal cancers, the new EU approach recommends:
For lung, prostate, and gastric cancers, the Recommendation invites Member States on the basis of further research to:
Financial support for cancer screening is available, with €38.5 million already committed for projects under the EU4Health Programme, and €60 million under Horizon Europe. Under the 2023 EU4Health Work Programme, an additional 38.5 million will support Member States to implement this new Council Recommendation and to develop EU guidelines. Further support can also be provided from the European regional, cohesion and social funds.
Background
The Recommendation replaces and extends the scope of the previous Council Recommendation on cancer screening adopted in 2003, which encompassed recommendations for breast, colorectal and cervical cancer screening. The Recommendation has been instrumental in ensuring that more citizens have access to organised screenings for these cancer types. However, there are still wide disparities in access to screening among Member States.
In 2020, an estimated 2.7 million people in the Union were diagnosed with cancer. According to estimations, one in two EU citizens will develop cancer during their lifetime, with long-lasting consequences on their quality of life, and only half of all cancer patients will survive.
For More Information
Recommendation on cancer screening
Questions and Answers on cancer screening
Factsheet: Europe's Beating Cancer Plan – a new approach to cancer screening