„Your chances of beating cancer should not depend on which country you live in or how much you earn.“ MEP Kristian Vigenin said this during a debate in the European Parliament dedicated to the implementation of the European Beating Cancer Plan.
Vigenin pointed to the significant differences between Bulgaria and the EU averages. According to the data he cited, the five-year survival rate for colorectal cancer in Bulgaria is 52%, compared with an average of 60% in the Union, while for lung cancer it is just 8%, compared with 15%.
„Human lives lie behind these figures,“ the MEP stressed. He identified late diagnosis, insufficient prevention and unequal access to modern therapies among the reasons for these disparities.
According to Vigenin, the European Beating Cancer Plan must be backed by real funding. „We insist that the next multiannual financial framework guarantee at least €10 billion for healthcare, of which a minimum of €2.5 billion should be allocated to fighting cancer,“ he said.
The MEP called on national healthcare systems to align their priorities with the common European goals, strengthen the exchange of experience and best practices, and improve the outcomes of cross-border treatment for patients with cancer.
„Healthcare and the fight against cancer are neither charity nor an expense at the cost of competitiveness,“ Vigenin stressed. He pointed out that healthy people work, create and contribute to the economy, and concluded: „Investment in healthcare is also an investment in Europe’s future.“
Following the discussions, the parliamentary report on the implementation of the EU Beating Cancer Plan was adopted by MEPs with an overwhelming majority of 447 votes.
For contact with the Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the EP: https://www.socialistsanddemocrats.eu/