BECA MEPs build strong international partnerships to deliver on EU Cancer Plan
A delegation of 7 MEPs of the Special Committee on Beating Cancer, including Chair Bartosz Arłukowicz and Rapporteur Véronique Trillet-Lenoir, travelled to Geneva and Lyon on 3 - 4 November. They met with WHO Director-General Dr Tedros and public health experts, academics, researchers and health care professionals to see what is being done on the ground to step up the fight against cancer, not least in the context of the current pandemic, which has affected cancer prevention and care greatly.
A mission to the World Health Organization headquarters in Geneva and to Lyon, home of IARC, the specialised cancer agency of the WHO, and of other cancer excellence institutes, will provide the opportunity to follow up on a large number of topics that until now could only be discussed to a limited extent in videoconferences format.
This will also allow the committee to look in more detail at aspects - in line with the BECA mandate - such as cancer research, funding, links between different cancer structures, including between EU Member States, good practices in the organisation of cancer care and patient follow-up, including in paediatric cancers, and the impact of COVID-19 on care.
BECA Members are particularly concerned about addressing inequalities in cancer prevention and care between and within Member States.