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Remarks by Commissioner Stella Kyriakides at the Press Seminar on Antimicrobial Resistance
1 February 2023
본 연설문은 유럽연합 보건식품안전 담당 집행위원 스텔라 키리아키두 (Stella Kyriakides)가 세계 암의 날에서 발표했던 연설문입니다.
EU 암 퇴치계획의 성과와 앞으로의 암 치료 개선을 위한 노력을 촉구하는 내용입니다.
https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/speech_23_522
<Glossary>
1. Europe's Beating Cancer Plan : EU 암 퇴치 계획
2. World Cancer Day : 세계 암의 날
3. Stockholm : 스톡홀름
4. Martin Luther King : 마틴 루터 킹
5. Minister Ankarberg Johansson : 안카베르크 요한슨 총리
6. European Health Union : 유럽 보건 연합
7. European Cancer Inequalities Registry : 유럽 암 불평등 사례 취합 기구(비공식)
8. EU-US Health Taskforce : EU-미국 보건 테스크포스
9. the Sea of Change choir : 씨오브체인지 합창단
<script>
Today marks the fourth year Europe's Beating Cancer Plan is bringing us together for World Cancer Day.
I am very happy to be able to have the EU's annual cancer event here in Stockholm, together with the Swedish Presidency.
Nearly six decades ago, Martin Luther King called out injustice in health as the most shocking and inhuman of all inequalities.
I couldn't agree more.
This is why we are here today with Minister Ankarberg Johansson, to combine our forces and shine a light on the importance of ensuring equity in access to cancer care.
Overcoming cancer inequalities across the EU will be challenging. But I believe that, if we identify and understand where the disparities lie, our chances to succeed are far greater.
With Europe's Beating Cancer Plan, we have committed to making a true difference for cancer patients and their families, for all European citizens.
This can only be achieved by addressing the unacceptable gaps we see within the EU today.
We should not forget that our first ever Cancer Plan for Europe was presented in the middle of the worst public health crisis in modern times, which had a very significant negative impact on cancer prevention and care.
This made the urgency to act even greater.
For myself, for many of us, this plan is indeed personal.
Europe's Beating Cancer Plan is a key pillar of our European Health Union. A Union that will render us better prepared and more resilient to future health crises, but also more able to deliver on the top public health challenges that citizens expect Europe to act on.
In two years, the Cancer Plan has gone from a blueprint to concrete actions, actively delivering on its many priorities and flagship initiatives, backed by unprecedented financial investment.
One of our flagships is the first ever European Cancer Inequalities Registry.
It reflects the Plans' ambition to understand, address, and most importantly reduce, cancer inequalities between Member States and to better target investments at EU and national level.
Ladies, and gentlemen, colleagues and friends,
I'm pleased that we are today, after two years of work, launching the first set of country cancer profiles.
I would like to take a moment to highlight some of their key findings.
There is no doubt that cancer is one of the major health challenges of our time.
It is the second most frequent cause of death, accounting for one in four lives lost in the EU.
Across all Member States, lung cancer remains by far the most common cause of death from cancer. What is even more worrying is the two-fold difference in cancer mortality across the EU.
In fact, between and even within countries, mortality rates, risk factors and access to care vary hugely, depending on socioeconomic status, gender or age.
People with lower education levels and lower incomes are the most affected, and access to care is more limited in remote areas.
In a European Health Union that seeks to protect everyone, such inequalities are unacceptable.
As an example, screening is key to improve early detection: however, coverage for breast cancer screening differs widely, from 6 to 90%, and from about 25 to 80% for cervical cancer. Τhese inequalities need to be addressed.
For the first time in 20 years, we have new, modern and science-based recommendations for cancer screening at EU level.
They include more targeted and broadened routine screenings, covering six cancer types, which make up over half of all cancer cases and cancer deaths in the EU.
This means that we will have a real chance to make a difference across the EU. Implementation is key and we will be closely monitoring.
Dear friends,
Over the coming year, we will continue delivering on the ambitions of the Cancer Plan, with more than 30 tangible actions and initiatives already in the making.
Amongst the key proposals, we have two important actions on prevention.
After the Summer, we will be presenting a new recommendation on vaccine preventable cancers, as well as measures to achieve smoke-free environments to help deliver our target of a tobacco-free Generation by 2024.
I would also like to underline another important development in an area which is of key importance – access to financial services.
Dear Friends,
Inequality has many faces.
With improvements in early detection, treatment and care, more and more Europeans are surviving cancer.
This is fantastic news.
However, too often, after winning their battle with cancer, they find themselves fighting for their right to be forgotten.
Their medical history can still be a barrier to accessing insurance and financial services, even after decades of remission. This is simply unacceptable.
We want to change this, and we will be working with business on a code of conduct to ensure that the remarkable medical progress of the past years is fully acknowledged. Some Member States are already incorporating the right to be forgotten into their national legislations.
And importantly, new EU rules on consumer credits that we expect to be adopted shortly will take the same approach - taking one more step against inequality in this area, evenly and across the EU.
Global corporation to tackling cancer is key and we are at the start of discussions on cooperation with the US Cancer Moonshot.
I firmly believe in working together to bring about change also in the area of cancer at the global level.
We are now in the process of setting up an EU-US Health Taskforce, and these discussions will not only impact patients and families in the EU and US, but also worldwide.
Friends,
We believe it is extremely important that personal testimonies are so prominent in our event today. These are the voices of those affected by cancer, this is breaking the silence, this is about empowerment. This is about giving the voice to those whose lives have been touched by this disease.
In a moment, two people will share their inspiring stories with us.
Later on, the Sea of Change choir, gathering cancer survivors and supporters, will sing for us. They know how overwhelming cancer can be, but their great sense of hope for a better future is constant – as is their bright presence at our annual cancer events.
These are just some inspiring stories from patients and healthcare workers that remind us that people are the beating heart of the Cancer Plan.
All people in the EU, wherever they live, should have the same opportunities to prevent, to be treated for, and to survive cancer.
This is why we are all here today. That is solidarity in action.
This is the solidarity that underpins our European Union and will guide us throughout our work to make a difference for every one of us whose lives have been touched by cancer.
I thank all of you who are part of this journey to make a difference.