Parliamentary question

Parliamentary question

In 2016, 1.3 million people died from cancer in the EU-28, representing more than one quarter (26.0 %) of total deaths. Projections suggest that the incidence of cancer could double by 2035.

The Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, has announced her intention to bring forward a plan for the new legislature to fight cancer.

The EU cancer plan will use data from Member States to make sure that the right priorities are set.

How will the Commission ensure that accurate data is collected from all Member States and that it is used in the best possible way to achieve a comprehensive and detailed database for the fight against cancer throughout the EU?

Answer given by Ms Kyriakides on behalf of the European Commission

The Member States submit data to Eurostat within the context of the framework Regulation (No1338/2008) on EU health statistics and Implementing Regulation on causes of death statistics (No328/2011), including on cancer. These yearly administrative statistics are broken down by sex, age groups and cancer site and are available at national and regional level. They are provided in absolute numbers, crude death rates and standardised death rates according to the European Standard Population.

Cancer screening statistics by different socio economic status is collected from citizens on the basis of the Implementing Regulation (No2018/255) on the European Health Interview Survey (EHIS). This is complemented by yearly administrative statistics on breast and cervical cancer screenings. Additional data and information on cancer screening is included in the second report of the Council recommendation on the implementation of breast, cervical and colorectal cancer screening.

In addition, the Commission’s Joint Research Centre runs the European Cancer Information System (ECIS). ECIS provides the latest information on indicators that quantify cancer burden across Europe. It permits the exploration of geographical patterns and temporal trends of incidence, mortality and survival data across Europe for the major cancer entities. Statistics in ECIS include historical time trends as well as national predictions, broken down by sex, age groups, year, and cancer site.

They are provided in absolute numbers, crude standardised rates according to the European and the World Standard Population, and can be visualised through interactive maps, graphs and tables.

All these data sources will be used when drawing up Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan.