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Verbatim report of proceedings
Thursday, 5 June 2003 - Strasbourg OJ edition

Breast cancer
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  Valenciano Martínez-Orozco (PSE).(ES) Mr President, first of all, like all of the other speakers, I want to congratulate Mrs Jöns on her undertaking, on her work and on her excellent report.

Breast cancer, Mr President, is the most common cancer in the European Union. The report by Mrs Jöns highlights some very important information and several approaches the Member States would do well to consider.

Both the Public Health Programme 2000-2008 and the Sixth Framework Programme for Research are very appropriate arenas for proceeding with this task of reducing the effects of breast cancer. Research and gene therapy will also help us.

We must also congratulate and thank the national and international cancer networks for their work, without which it would probably be impossible to make any headway. However, we must agree on certain things, such as the age at which early detection programmes should begin. Perhaps we are starting quite late in the day and we need to harmonise this therapy. It is also important to harmonise the collection of data and to align the situation on the ground and the treatments used. The disparities as regards the effect of breast cancer among the countries of the European Union and between these countries and the candidate countries are enormous. It is vital that we work together to harmonise this situation.

Probably the most important aspects are health education, prevention, early detection, self-examination and, of course, mammography screening. Rapid treatment is essential; there are many women who have few resources at hand in this respect, to teach them how to examine themselves and at what stage in their lives they need to seek treatment. I therefore believe that it is vital for Mrs Jöns’ work to follow this same path, because each and every one of us will benefit from it.

 
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