Speech by Dr. Chrysanthos Georgiou, Head of the Health Policy Department of the C.C. of AKEL at the conference on “The new European Cancer Strategy and the Cypriot reality”

 

 

19 February 2022, AKEL C.C. Press Office, Nicosia

I would like to thank you for accepting the invitation of the AKEL Health Policy Department and AKEL’s European Affairs Bureau to attend this round table for an exchange of views on cancer in Cyprus and the EU.

It is well known that AKEL supports all organised groups and organisations that stand by patients and raise awareness of cancer issues in society. Our aim is to listen to your positions and proposals, to outline our own political positions, to enrich and develop them focusing solely on the Cypriot patient and his/her familiar environment in the fight against cancer. The whole approach that distinguishes our own political philosophy is our fundamental principle that health is a right that must be provided without hindrance to all citizens.

In 2020, 2.7 million people in the EU were diagnosed with cancer, while another 1.3 million people died from it, including more than 555,000 women, over 2,000 young people and 6,000 children.

According to the estimates of the Global Cancer Observatory “GLOBOCAN” (WHO), which are based on data from the Cyprus Cancer Registry up to the year 2018, the cumulative risk for a fellow citizen to be diagnosed with cancer by the age of 75 was for the year 2020: 25%, i.e. it is estimated that in our country 1 in 4 people will be affected by cancer in their lifetime. This probability differs between the sexes and is 6% higher among men, where it is around 28%. The corresponding risk of cancer in our country was ~11%. It is estimated that approximately 1 in 9 Cypriots die from cancer by the age of 75 years. Again, this risk is 5% higher among men where it reaches 13%.

According to the European Cancer Information System (ECIS) estimates, also based on data from the Cyprus Cancer Registry, in the year 2020 there 4,989 new cases were recorded, while in the same year 2,430 cancer patients died from the disease.

The incidence of cancer in Cyprus for both sexes is ~10% lower compared to that in the EU.

According to the estimates of the European Observatory, cancer mortality in Cyprus for both sexes in the year 2020 exceeds that of the EU as a whole by a relative difference of ~3%, ranking our country in 13th place.

The social injustice in the field of cancer care is now well known, as the variation in cancer survival rates in EU member states exceeds 25%.

This injustice exists not only between countries, but also between citizens of countries. This problem has been exacerbated during the pandemic as it is estimated that 1 million cases of cancer may have gone undiagnosed.

It is also extremely worrying to note that Covid-19 across the EU has overshadowed other diseases, resulting in the abandonment of screening, postponement of surgery, reduced chances of early diagnosis of a serious disease and reduced access to the supply of medicines. According to data from European Commission, up to 1 in 2 people with possible cancer symptoms are not urgently referred for diagnosis and 1 in 5 cancer patients in Europe are still not currently receiving the surgical or chemotherapy treatment they need!

The situation with regards cancer care is becoming even more difficult, as the pandemic has brought our hospitals to their knees and exacerbated the shortages of infrastructure, equipment, consumables and human resources in the public health sector.

Unfortunately, AKEL’s warnings about the need to invest in public hospitals to ensure that there is equal access to quality health services for all, even in times of crisis, protecting health as a public, social good and as a basic human right were not heeded while Cyprus has for many years been lagging far behind among the EU member states with regards public spending on health.

In order to prevent cancer cases from increasing by 18% by 2040, making it the leading cause of death in the EU, we must take decisive action now.

It should be made clear that mortality is influenced by many parameters and that, in addition to the incidence of cancer in a country, this indicator reflects the prognosis of the disease, as well as the effectiveness of the pillars of cancer control, including primary prevention, early diagnosis and available treatments.

Improving detection, access to cancer prevention, diagnosis, treatment, education, research and quality of life for all those facing cancer are absolute top priorities for AKEL. Cancer has an impact not only on individual health, but also has a significant social and economic impact.” Our contributions are expected to touch on all aspects to address the problem!

Briefly, I mention the following:

1. It is imperative that there is political will and consensus in Cyprus, as well as at an EU level, to reform and modernise the treatment of cancer.
2. The National Cancer Strategy should be updated through a meaningful consultation with society.
3. It is imperative that an integrated National Cancer Centre (National Cancer Institute) is created working in collaboration with others in the EU to facilitate the adoption of quality diagnostics and treatments, including training, research and the promotion of clinical trials across the EU.
4. Adequate funding and staffing of the national cancer institute and national commission.
5. Increased budget and adequate funding for Cancer Services.
6. Substantial upgrading and support for the cancer registry.
7. Strengthening public health and public hospitals
8. Implement structured cancer prevention programmes and involve personal physicians in their implementation
9. Allocating more funds to strengthen actions for its prevention.
10. Adequate funding for cancer research and childhood cancer research
11. Enforcement of smoking and alcohol legislation
12. Elaborate and implement a comprehensive policy for palliative care and resident hospitalization
13. Combating inequalities regarding prevention, early diagnosis, access to quality care and the possibility of reintegration into society.
14. Developing education and training programmes for health professionals.
15. Improving e-health technologies and telemedicine services and outpatient cancer treatments in order to maintain the quality of life of patients.
16. Tackling drug shortages and profiteering in prices.
17. Transparency by pharmaceutical companies about tax breaks, subsidies and funding they may receive from public funds.
18. All the expenditures related to treatment should be funded before the start of treatment in order to avoid the exclusion of low-income patients.
19. Provide financial support from the state especially to low-income parents who accompany their child for treatment abroad.
20. Increasing the number of days of paid leave that parents and relatives can take to support a family member suffering from cancer,
21. Providing patients with a care allowance equivalent to 100 % of their earnings.
22. Establish high quality radiotherapy departments and modern oncology centres in public hospitals to ensure equal access to quality radiotherapy
23. Ensure outpatient cancer treatment and care.
24. Promoting policies for free access to medicines for users over 65 years of age, chronically ill patients and families facing financial problems.
25. Provide psychosocial support to patients and their families.
26. Enhancing the quality of life of patients.
27. Strengthening the right to cross-border care.
28. Promoting the development of new pediatric cancer medicines.
29. Increase funding for pediatric cancer and other rare cancers.
30. Increase funding and promote legislative measures to address inequalities for children and ensure equal rights for all children in the EU;
31. Promote targeted screening for high-risk groups.
32. Develop multidisciplinary, multidisciplinary treatment teams to support cancer patients throughout their treatment pathway.
33. Introduce relief measures to ensure fair rights and access to treatment for all children and young people with cancer in Europe;
34. The involvement of Personal and Specialist Physicians in the post-treatment follow-up of cancer patients, especially long-term survivors, should be pursued. This will lead to the decongestion of tertiary Oncology Centres and allow them to devote more time to newly diagnosed cases.
35. Recognition of the specialty of palliative care. I note that the broad recognition and capacity planning of the specialties of Pathological Oncology and Surgical Oncology is rightly set as the goal.
36. Establishment of a specialised centre for rare cancers. The aim should be centralisation rather than decentralisation and fragmentation of services. Only under well-organised conditions and with a sufficient critical mass of patients can clinical expertise be accumulated and the possibility of maintaining specialised services be created.

For AKEL, the level of health is an expression of the level of civilisation of a society and we assert the highest possible level because everyone must travel 1st class on the health train.