The new plan will include all areas of combating cancer: from prevention and diagnosis to treatment and comprehensive rehabilitation. The plan will be elaborated based on examples of good practice in the Member States; the European Commission has therefore launched an EU-wide public consultation on Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan. The consultation results will be taken into consideration in the preparation of the plan and will help define the key areas and future measures.

The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, considers the launch of the public consultation to be the first step in the preparation of the new Beating Cancer Plan. She explained that the consultation seeks to collect the observations of doctors, scientists, patients, informal groups and political leaders. Its aim is to define key and priority areas of action and measures in all the main phases of the disease. Brussels intends to present the plan by the end of the year.

In addition, the plan seeks to identify ways to alleviate the suffering caused by cancer and help the Member States provide better monitoring and treatment of the disease. Commission President von der Leyen noted that the last EU action plan in the field of combating cancer is already 30 years old.