European Cancer Mission: The Importance of Cancer Prevention, Study notes of Urban planning

Download European Cancer Mission: The Importance of Cancer Prevention and more Study notes Urban planning in PDF only on Docsity! Cancer Mission Statement on Cancer Prevention By Cancer Prevention Europe Why is cancer prevention inevitable in a European Cancer Mission against cancer? With the changing demographics of an aging population, Europe is threatened by a massive increase in new cancer patients and cancer deaths. More than 100 million Europeans will be diagnosed with cancer over the next 25 years. This is not a worst case scenario – this is the most likely projection based on scientific evidence. On the contrary, it may well get even much worse, if for instance current trends with increasing overweight and obesity, or exposure to air pollution continue to rise. This means that virtually every family will have members suffering from cancer, together with the psychological and possibly economic consequences for the whole family. In addition, there are negative consequences for the entire population. First, the economic burden will increase to an extent that it will be impossible to provide optimal treatment to all patients. Second, it will increase inequity as those who will suffer first from less optimal treatment are the most vulnerable groups in society. Third, no European country will be able to build up the needed capacity in medical professionals and caretakers. Only a massive and rigorous investment into cancer prevention may counter this projection. To achieve the minimum goal of plateauing numbers of new cancer patients and deaths until 2040, the risk of developing cancer needs to be reduced by approximately 0.75% per year and the risk of dying from cancer by slightly over 1% per year. Due to the long latency period during which cancer develops between exposure and diagnosis, it takes a long time to reverse a trend. Thus, the figures need to be substantially higher than what was achieved in the past decade. For example, with asbestos being banned in most European countries in the early 1990s, the trend of increasing asbestos-related cancer deaths continued for 30 years and only after about 60 years a situation similar to before the epidemic started will be reached. Timelines are hardly shorter for many other established cancer risk factors. A prominent example of today is air pollution – at present, in Europe, it causes about 1% of cancers, but is reflecting the exposure situation from 20-30 years ago; to avoid an air pollution-related strong increase in cancer action has to be taken today, at least. Such rigorous action in policy change for a long list of known carcinogens or unhealthy behaviours and research to fill our knowledge gaps can only be achieved with massive investment coordinated across Europe, i.e. through the Cancer Mission Europe. Why is cancer prevention an All-European challenge and hence perfectly suited for a Cancer Mission? As mentioned above, only with both rigorous implementation of prevention measures known to be effective, and with enforced research into better prevention, will the goal of the Cancer Mission of “having 3 out of 4 patients surviving cancer” be realistic. No European country is an exception in this regard. Only joining forces in improved cancer prevention and cancer prevention research could change these trends, which also has numerous synergistic benefits for European populations. Broadening in health promotion to include action on the structural determinants of health, including a focus on the implementation of Health in All Policies, tackles cross-cutting themes such as preventive strategies common to other non- communicable diseases or to climate change mitigation (i.e. prevention should be done through inter-sectoral policies encompassing health services, but also the energy, transportation, food, or urban planning sectors), while reducing social disparities in health. The impact of political measures on various levels (European, national, regional, and the community) on the reduction of cancer risk factors will be monitored by cancer incidence and mortality registration and projections. In addition, research is repeatedly finding that there are many ways by which cancer prevention can save costs to the economy. For example, the reduction of meat production in the context of measures against climate change will lower meat consumption with the benefit of reducing the risk of cancer. Similarly, shifting transportation behaviour from car use to biking and walking will have an impact on air pollution, climate change and cancer. Why is cancer prevention research so essential for successful cancer prevention? It is estimated that around 40% of cancers could be avoided through implementation of primary prevention measures known to be effective. Most of this is known for many years, if not decades, but has not resulted in effective cancer prevention. It has also been shown that deaths from several types of cancer can be substantially reduced through early detection. The reality is that the extent to which European Screening Guidelines are implemented across Europe differs greatly. Hence, implementation research must be enforced to make prevention more acceptable to health decision-makers and to the people. Research into cancer aetiology must also be continued to identify yet uncovered causes of cancer. Research is needed to unravel how to most effectively translate scientific evidence into effective prevention measures on the individual, community, national and international level, taking into account socio-economic differences within and across countries. Why is primary prevention essential? Primary cancer prevention encompasses reducing harmful environmental exposures or making positive changes towards healthy behaviours, as well as the use of vaccines and therapeutic agents to prevent the development of cancer. It is imperative to improve the impact of primary prevention of cancer on the health of the European populations. This goal