Marking World Cancer Day 2025

Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan has been one of the Commission’s health flagships for some years now. What do you think it has achieved so far?

Cancer is a major public health concern and the second leading cause of death in the EU. Europe accounts for a tenth of the world’s population, but for a quarter of the world’s cancer cases. Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan addresses the whole disease pathway, from prevention, early detection, diagnosis and treatment to quality of life of cancer patients and survivors. Four years since its adoption, a recent review of the Cancer Plan has concluded that the Plan is delivering, and that continuing to implement ongoing actions should be the major focus to achieve its aims. Implementation of the Plan is well underway, and most actions have been initiated and are being put into practice, across all pillars and horizontal themes of the Cancer Plan. 

Prevention, early detection and care are the key to addressing cancer and that is why they are the corner stones of the Cancer Plan. Under these pillars, in 2024 the EU adopted new recommendations on smoke-free environments and vaccine-preventable cancers to support Member States to reduce risks and strengthen access to prevention services. New EU cancer screening recommendations have been in place since December 2022 with the aim to ensure that breast, cervical and colorectal cancer screenings are offered to 90% of eligible persons across the EU. Finally, the Commission is supporting Member States to establish an EU Network of Comprehensive Cancer Centres. The Network will by 2028 link 100 multidisciplinary structures that manage all aspects of cancer care, research and specialised medical training. These are some of the many EU initiatives that are delivering on our mission to beat cancer. 

How did the Commission mark World Cancer Day this year? 

On World Cancer Day, Commissioner for Health and Animal Welfare hosted his first Youth Policy Dialogue to exchange views on Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan, cancer care and support for survivors. The overall aim of this Youth Policy Dialogue was to create a better understanding of the lived experience of young cancer survivors and professionals and allow them to share their views on EU health policies and programmes in the field of oncology. 

HaDEA also organised a very successful event in Brussels on ‘Fostering synergies to beat cancer: The impact of EU-funded projects’, at which our Director-General Sandra Gallina delivered a keynote speech. This was an important occasion to mark the World Cancer Day and demonstrate the impact of various grants and tenders under Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan and the Cancer Mission. This event brought together representatives of EU-funded cancer projects, NGOs, health organisations working in the field of cancer, National Contact Points and policy makers. The discussions highlighted the critical importance of collaboration, data use and sharing, equity and innovation in addressing cancer care and research. The focus of the event was on cross-sector synergies and a multistakeholder approach, which are vital for advancing cancer care and enhancing patient outcomes.

Finally, the Commission also published the latest Country Cancer Profiles for all Member States, Norway and Iceland. The good news from the 2025 report is that cancer survival rates are increasing across the EU. At the same time, however, cancer continues to be a public health concern, screening uptake has declined in many Member States and cancer inequalities persist across the EU. So there is still a lot of work to do. 

Can you tell us more about the Youth Policy Dialogue? What issues did Commissioner Várhelyi discuss with the participants? 

In this new Commission mandate, all Commissioners must meet with a different group of young people once a year, to discuss a topic of relevance to their policy area. This is a very nice initiative, because it allows our top decision-makers to have direct input, feedback and ideas from the younger generations. 

Commissioner Várhelyi chose to meet 30 young cancer survivors and young cancer professionals, to mark World Cancer Day. As he said to them, no one knows the needs of young people affected by cancer better than those who experienced it. This event gave him a chance to hear first-hand from those who have been impacted by this disease, as well as from those working with cancer patients daily. 

Over the course of 2 hours, the Commissioner and these young people had a very interesting and open discussion on a whole range of topics related to cancer. This included issues such as follow-up treatment, fertility preservation, reintegration into society, mental health, early diagnosis, digital health and the potential of AI in healthcare. The Commissioner concluded the Dialogue with a firm commitment to continue the good work under Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan, and to build on it further. I felt there was a very positive and optimistic atmosphere amongst everyone who took part in this Dialogue. 

The latest edition of the Country Cancer Profiles shows some worrying trends. What are these and how can they be addressed? 

The Country Cancer Profiles highlight several key facts, which provide an important evidence base for both national and EU policymaking when it comes to cancer. 

As already mentioned, the good news is that cancer survival rates have improved, and cancer mortality has decreased by 12% in the last decade. However, the prevalence of cancer has increased by 24%. About half of all cancer cases are caused by four main cancer types: colorectal, lung, prostate and breast. This means we need to make more effort to develop rehabilitation and quality of life programmes. A worrying trend is that the uptake of cancer screening – which we know is essential for early detection – has fallen. One in two Member States have seen a decline in breast cancer screening uptake, and two out of three have noted decreases in cervical cancer screening. This calls for more effort to raise awareness of the importance of screening to improve the chances of survival. 

There have been improvements on a number of cancer risk factors in the EU, including decreasing smoking rates and an overall decrease in alcohol use. Overweight and obesity however remain an increasing challenge, with over half of adults in the EU being overweight.

The Profiles also showed that there are still strong inequalities in cancer mortality. Gaps vary greatly across countries, with rates remaining highest in low-income countries, among persons with lower levels of education and among men. This is something we are very committed to addressing at EU level, and which requires additional attention at national level.  We believe that through focussing on Prevention, early detection and care – the corner stones of Europe’s’ Beating Cancer Plan – we can and will reverse these trends.