We have come to the end of one political cycle and Ursula von der Leyen has been re-elected as the President of the European Commission. At the time of writing, the name of the future Health Commissioner is yet unknown. However, we already know that health will not be as prominent on the European political agenda as it was in the last five years. Why does this matter? A political realist would say it matters because there will be less funding for cancer. European funding follows political priorities, so we have been blessed with unprecedented levels of funding for cancer in the last few years.

Some of us still remember a full room in the European Parliament, where there weren’t enough spaces for all those interested when Ursula von der Leyen made a personal (yet unemotional) announcement about how cancer shaped her family and how her Commission will try to beat cancer. Back in 2019 (before Covid), such a health topic had never been placed so high on a political agenda (apart from when there is a scandal or a disease outbreak).

Five years later, we might ask, so what has happened? It would be unfair to simply compare mortality and incidence statistics from five years ago and today. Cancer progress is incremental.

Nevertheless, in the last five years (that is the term of the outgoing von der Leyen Commission), nearly two million people in Europe died from digestive cancers, that is, one person died almost every minute.

Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan was a great start, but many of its nearly 100 initiatives need to be continued. Some have been fully achieved, but some are a work in progress, and their success will depend on the uptake and upkeep of the tools created in the last few years.

For instance, what will be the point of the cancer inequalities register if countries do not provide correct data in the long term and take actions to mitigate the inequalities?

Regarding policy tools for digestive cancers, the EU Cancer Screening Recommendations have been updated for CRC cancer and included gastric cancer for the first time. We would have liked to see liver cancer included in the Screening Recommendations. Still, despite the expert committee deciding not to include them, DiCE will continue to advocate for targeted screening programmes for liver cancer. For the first time, the EU issued Recommendations on vaccine preventable cancers, which include support for vaccination against Hepatitis B.

These two sets of recommendations are not legally binding on Member States, but provide an important tool for national advocacy efforts and a reference point.

DiCE would have liked to have seen more ambition and financial commitment in how the EU can support Member States in implementing these recommendations.

Regarding other areas of Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan, we specifically looked at the amount of money dedicated to digestive cancers. We looked at the funding period from 2021 to 2027, as we realise that political priorities take time to cascade to funding streams.

Forty-three projects that specifically focus on digestive cancers are funded either through Horizon Europe or the EU4Health Programme (EU4H): 20 for CRC, 12 for pancreatic cancer, 4 for gastric cancer, 4 for liver cancer, 1 for liver and pancreatic cancer combined, and only 1 for oesophageal cancer. This amounted to 15 410 318 872 EUR spent by the EU on digestive cancers.

One could argue that it is not enough; however, every euro spent is well-spent for us and will bring tangible benefits.  But, our deep concern is that this might be ‘as good as it gets’ regarding EU funding. For digestive cancer patients across Europe, this is not good enough. At a minimum, the current level of funding should be maintained in the new von der Leyen Commission. DiCE will work relentlessly to ensure the EU continues to support digestive cancer patients.

Author:
Aleksandra Kaczmarek