EURO-MPs UNITE AGAINST CANCER AHEAD OF PORTUGESE PRESIDENCY

5.05.54pm BST (GMT +0100) Wed 27th Jun 2007

Liz Lynne, Euro-MP for the West Midlands and co-chair of MEPs Against Cancer, has welcomed commitments by the Portuguese Presidency, outlined today during a meeting of MEPs against cancer chaired by Liz, to do more at European level to combat cancer when they take over the rotating presidency of the European Union's Council of Ministers on the 1st July.

Speaking after the meeting Liz said:

"Politicians have a vital role to play in ensuring we fight this devastating disease; the Portuguese Government must now deliver on their promises to raise the profile of cancer during their Presidency."

"By working together to share ideas and best practice, improved screening and treatment can be spread throughout Europe, closing the vast gaps which currently exist within and between Member States."

"There are preventable cancers and treatable ones which can be eradicated if caught early enough. At the present time, too many people are dying because of poor screening and treatment standards."

ENDS

Notes to editors

Portuguese health officials have agreed to prioritise cancer in their health agendas and outlined plans for a more patient-focussed and improved cancer control strategy to combat the some 200 forms of the disease, which kills 1.2 million Europeans each year.

About MAC - MEPs Against Cancer

Liz Lynne jointly formed MEPs against Cancer in 2005, it is an all-party informal group of fifty-six MEPs committed to promoting action on cancer as an EU priority and harnessing European health policy to that end. For more information please visit the MAC website: www.mepsagainstcancer.org

Cancer in Europe: Key facts and figures

· There are more than 2,2 million new cases and more than 1,1 cancer deaths in the EU 25 each year

· Every day, over 6000 Europeans are diagnosed with cancer and more than 3000 die from their disease

· In women breast cancer is the most common form of cancer, amounting to nearly 31% of all incidence cases

· In men prostate cancer is the most common form of cancer, amounting to 24% of all incidence cases

· Colon or colorectal cancer is the second cancer in women and third in men,

· Breast, prostate, colon and lung cancers count for more than half of the entire cancer population of the European Union in both sexes

· Most of the other cancers are fortunately seen in smaller numbers and affecting not more than 5/10,000 people in the EU

· The number of Europeans with cancer will increase dramatically by 2015 due to the ageing population

Figures based on estimates of the cancer incidence and mortality in Europe in 2006 published in the Annals of Oncology by the International Agency for Research on Cancer.

http://www.iarc.fr/