MEP Victor Negrescu urged the European Commission, through a written question, to come up with active measures to give all Europeans equal access to the most innovative and effective medical solutions to fight cancer.
He gave the example of Romania, where “the average survival rate for children diagnosed with cancer is 69.1%, 10% below the Western European average”.
”Unfortunately, the medical technology available in our country, as well as in many countries with limited financial resources, does not allow the proper treatment of cancer and the use of the most innovative methods and treatments that could save the lives of many children affected by this relentless disease”, said the MEP.
According to the latest EU and OECD report, cancer mortality in Romania is above the European average and has increased for six cancers since 2000.
Moreover, cancer is the second leading cause of death in the country after cardiovascular diseases, representing 19% of all deaths. In 2019, 50,324 people died from cancer in Romania, the document shows.
The age-standardised cancer mortality rate was 7% higher than the EU average in 2019 and showed very modest progress since 2011 compared to the EU average.
The EU presented a Beating Cancer Plan, a key pillar of the European Health Union announced by President von der Leyen in 2020. Launched in 2021, the Cancer Plan sets out a new EU approach to cancer prevention, treatment, and care through an integrated, health-in-all-policies, and multi-stakeholder approach. It proposes 10 flagships and multiple actions to tackle the entire disease pathway.
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