The European Union unveiled on January 3 a plan to fight cancer effectively. This plan plans to commit 4 billion euros.

As part of its vast “Europe of Health” project, the European executive intends to release funds to increase access to high-performance screening and diagnostics, as early detection offers the best chances of survival. The objective is that by 2025, at least 90% of people qualified for screening for colon, breast or cervical cancer should have access to it. Brussels plans to expand its support for gastric, prostate and lung cancer screening.

In 2020, some 2.7 million people in the EU were diagnosed with cancer and 1.3 million Europeans died from it; the economic cost of cancer for the EU-27 is estimated at €100 billion per year.