mr president first of all let me give my congratulations to mr peterle for his great work on this report making sure that the fight against cancer remains a top priority on our public health agenda
there is no need to repeat the figures we all know what the public-health social and economic costs for the union will be if we do not address this issue consistently and make the appropriate resources available especially in order to overcome the disparities between the member states
the burden of cancer is a threat for the sustainability of our public health systems and the eu should definitely take the lead in responding to it adequately
whether we speak about prevention diagnosis treatment research or information of course we speak about partnership but we will manage to combat effectively the burden of cancer in europe only if we make sure that all stakeholders and particularly patients groups are involved in the long run if we ensure an efficient exchange of good practices between member states and if we guarantee that the functioning of such a partnership will be closely monitored and supported
i hope that the commission will play its role and make sure the partnership delivers its objectives
i would like to stress one particular point the call on the commission to use the existing ecdc and to add non-communicable diseases to its mandate
i believe this could definitely strengthen the expertise and recommendations
finally the issue of timely and equal access to prevention diagnosis and care should be closely looked at if we want to ensure that the fight against cancer also contributes to the objective that we should all keep in mind the reduction of health inequalities in europe
commissioner i look forward to seeing you tomorrow at patients rights day because this is extremely important for all patients groups and your commitment matters to all of us
