By Martha Moss - 3rd December 2010
Member states and the EU cannot afford to remain impassive vis-à-vis the cancer epidemic
Slovakian EPP deputy Miroslav Mikolášik
We have to help the cancer patients cope with the disease and cope with the treatments
Clinical psychologist Sofie Eelen
The EU "cannot afford to remain passive" on tackling the cancer epidemic, a parliament conference has heard.
Slovakian EPP deputy Miroslav Mikolášik - who has been involved in the Parliament Magazine's roundtable discussions on cancer - told the concluding event that national and European action was urgently needed to promote preventative measures and improve outcomes.
"Member states and the EU cannot afford to remain impassive vis-à-vis the cancer epidemic," he said.
Mikolášik, who is also trained as a medical doctor, added, "Coordinated action is needed more than ever. There is local action, but European and international action as well."
The event, held in the European parliament on Thursday, brought together MEPs, medical experts and industry representatives to discuss how best to coordinate action on tackling cancer.
It also aimed to feed in the conclusions of the three discussions - held in London, Bratislava and Paris - on how national examples could inform action at EU level, and vice-versa.
Discussing the London event, British ALDE deputy Liz Lynne spoke of the need to share scientific research. Brussels has made a financial commitment to the issue, devoting €750m to cancer research during the sixth framework programme (FP6) and the start of FP7, she said.
"The problem at the moment is that people tend to work in isolation," Lynne said. "I know why they work in isolation - because quite often they jealously guard research."
Lynne, who is a vice-chair of parliament's employment and social affairs committee, also called for EU action to tackle the "stark inequalities" on cancer rates.
To this end, the EU partnership on action against cancer - which provides support to countries through a framework for identifying and sharing information, capacity and expertise in cancer prevention and control - aims to reduce disparities by 70 per cent by the end of the decade, she said.
And she added that the EU commission "will need to step up coordination" if it is to meet the target of reducing cancer by 15 per cent by 2020.
Events such as this could help member states "learn from each other and disseminate best practice", she said, adding, "This has been an excellent initiative, having these discussions. But we can't leave it there - we have to take it further."
Clinical psychologist Sofie Eelen used her address to discuss the issue of psychosocial care, which she said could "really improve quality of life for cancer patients".
Eelen, of the Flemish psychosocial oncology institute, at the Cedric Hèle institute in Belgium, highlighted figures showing that more than 30 per cent of cancer sufferers experience high levels of depression.
Patients were confronted with a range of psychological problems after their diagnosis, she said, including coping with the physical impact of surgery - such as mastectomies for breast cancer patients.
Other psychological difficulties may involve patients questioning their belief system following a diagnosis, or the effect on partners, family or work, she added.
"We have to help the cancer patients cope with the disease and cope with the treatments," she said. "After-treatment care is also important."
Clair Watts, the director of the European Oncology Nursing Society (EONS), was among the other speakers at the event.
Exploring the challenges for cancer nursing, she said it was important to give patients a more informed choice and develop a nursing system able to cope with an ageing population, demographic change and the difficult economic climate.
Health systems needed to cope with an increase in the use of oral chemotherapy, she said, "which means there has been a shift in care from a hospital to community environment".
The situation varied widely between member states, with people in some countries - such as Romania - going to their local library as the first point of call for cancer care.
This requires a flexible approach to care delivery, she said, for example in such a situation the EONS could help inform librarians and pharmacists of the best way to help cancer patients.
"We need to think very creatively about what is the right role for the nurse in each healthcare setting," Watts said. "If you have a difficult financial environment and money is scarce, you need to have a flexible and highly trained team."
