EU Cancer Plan Faces Cuts as Geopolitical concerns Shift Priorities
A landmark European Union initiative to combat cancer is facing important budget reductions and a diminished role in future funding frameworks, raising concerns among health advocates about the long-term impact on prevention, treatment, and research.
Health became a central priority for the European Union following the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, the Commission launched the European Plan to Fight Cancer, allocating €4 billion to address the continent’s leading cause of mortality. Representing 25% of global cancer cases despite holding only 10% of the world’s population – a disparity largely attributed to aging populations – cancer demanded urgent attention.However, escalating global instability and a renewed focus on defense policies have led to a concerning shift, with health budgets shrinking and cancer losing its prominent position on the EU agenda.
the EU4Health program, initially designed to run from 2021 to 2027, experienced a 20% cut last year, reducing its allocated budget to €5.3 billion. More alarmingly, cancer is set to disappear as a specific focus within the next financial framework (2028-2036).The Commission’s proposal – currently awaiting ratification – would strip health funding of its autonomy, integrating it into a broader competitiveness fund.
This restructuring means cancer will no longer have a dedicated budgetary allocation. Its financing will become increasingly dependent on macroeconomic and geopolitical considerations, requiring projects to demonstrate benefits beyond health, such as contributions to competitiveness, innovation, or strategic preparedness, to secure funding.
The practical consequences of these changes are far-reaching. Funding for essential programs like colon and breast cancer screening, standardized across European nations, will likely be reduced.Investment in population
Requests for comment from the European Commission regarding the health cuts have gone unanswered.
A Structural Challenge
Experts emphasize that cancer is not a temporary issue but a deeply rooted structural problem requiring sustained, long-term investment. Every year, approximately three million tumors are diagnosed across Europe, resulting in 1.4 million deaths, including over 115,000 in Spain alone. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Progress (OECD) recently warned that cancer diagnoses have risen by around 30% since 2000, advocating for integrated care systems to shorten waiting times and improve survival rates. The OECD projects an additional 18% increase in cancer cases between 2022 and 2040 without significant changes to prevention and healthcare strategies.
Lifestyle factors are responsible for approximately 40% of all tumors,with smoking being the leading cause – responsible for 50,000 deaths annually in Spain. Alcohol consumption, poor diet, and a sedentary lifestyle also contribute significantly.
Early detection through screening programs is another critical component of cancer prevention. The AECC has long advocated for comprehensive data collection to assess the effectiveness of these programs,including a national registry to track population reach,cancer detection rates,and lives saved.While colorectal surgery is estimated to save 35% of lives and breast cancer surgery 31%, a centralized registry in Spain to validate these estimates remains absent.
Following a screening scandal in Andalusia, the Ministry of Health initiated efforts to collect data from all autonomous communities to establish a unified registry. A spokesperson confirmed that the department now possesses the data, but it remains heterogeneous and requires organization before publication. Together, the AECC has partnered with the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) to conduct similar work, beginning with colorectal cancer, with preliminary data expected in March.
“It’s not that we want the data just for the sake of it,” Reyes emphasized, “it’s that each piece of data is a person, and only by knowing it can we certainly know where we are going.”
The shift in EU priorities underscores a critical juncture in the fight against cancer, raising concerns that progress made in recent years could be jeopardized by a return to short-sighted budgetary decisions.
“We have presented amendments from the EPP group so that the European plan against cancer is followed as it has been doing. We consider health protection as part of the defense of Europe’s security, we understand the urgency of allocating funds to defense, but we should also continue to support politically and economically the protection of health and cancer remains a priority for the EPP,” they noted.
