Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan: The Commission launches EU-wide consultation

Tomorrow, 4 February – World Cancer Day – the European Commission will launch an EU-wide public consultation on Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan, at an event which will be opened by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and convened by Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, Stella Kyriakides, in the European Parliament. The event ‘Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan: Let’s strive for more’ will bring together a range of stakeholders, from political leaders to health professionals and NGOs, to collect a broad range of views on the outline of Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan and help to identify the areas and the scope of future action. While the EU has a long history of fighting cancer, there are still many challenges ahead. Every year, 1.3 million people die from cancer and 3.5 million new cases are diagnosed in the European Union. Ahead of the event, Commissioner Stella Kyriakides said: “Tomorrow we will start our consultation on Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan. The success of this plan will depend on the engagement of a wide range of actors. I hope that everyone will participate fully in this process and share their invaluable expertise, experience and insight. We need everyone to contribute and ensure that our Plan is ambitious and far-reaching and has a concrete impact on the lives of our citizens.” Additional speakers include Margaritis Schinas, Vice-President for Promoting Our European Way of Life, European Parliament First Vice-President Mairead McGuiness, andco-chairs of the MEPs Against Cancer Interest Group, Véronique Trillet-Lenoir and Loucas Fourlas. More details on the event can be found here. The launch event will be broadcast live on EbS. A press point with Vice-President Schinas and Commissioner Kyriakides will follow the event at +/- 16h30.