I am pleased to celebrate the launch of the country factsheets on socioeconomic inequalities in cancer mortality.
Cancer continues to present an enormous challenge.
In 2022, we saw 2.74 million new cancer cases. This is 2.3 percent more than in 2020.
Every minute, five people in the EU find out they have cancer.
But their chances of surviving can depend a lot on who they are and where they live.
Even though cancer care has improved, there are still big differences between countries in how cancer affects people and how it is treated.
More people die from cancer in lower-income countries – and new cancer cases can be up to twice as high in some EU countries compared to others.
We have seen improvements in the prevalence of risk factors, like smoking and alcohol consumption.
But there are still strong socioeconomic disparities, particularly in overweight and obesity rates.
In 2022, over half of women with low education reported being overweight, compared to a third among women with a high level of education.
There are also disparities in access to prevention and care.
For example, cancer screening rates are significantly lower among people who are socio-economically disadvantaged – such as people with lower income and education.
If we want a European Health Union for everyone, we cannot accept these inequalities.
Patients should be able to access equally high standards of cancer care, no matter where they live in the EU.
This is a key aim of Europe's Beating Cancer Plan.
In order to understand and address inequalities, we need to measure them first.
The European Cancer Inequalities Registry helps us move towards this goal.
It is a flagship initiative of Europe's Beating Cancer Plan.
It helps Member States identify trends, disparities and inequalities in cancer, as well as areas that need to be improved.
The country factsheets being launched today provide very important input to the Registry.
They were prepared by the International Agency for Research on Cancer for all 27 EU Member States, Iceland and Norway.
They give new insights on the impact of socioeconomic factors on inequalities in cancer mortality, with a focus on disparities by educational level.
One insight is that on average in the EU, there is a 37 percent difference in cancer mortality between people with low education levels compared to high education levels.
This mortality gap varies hugely between countries – in some it is as low as 18%, while in others it is as high as 106%.
Ladies and gentlemen,
These findings will complement other elements of the European Cancer Inequalities Registry's work, like the data tool and the Country Cancer Profiles series.
Together, they provide a fuller picture of cancer disparities.
It is important to have sound and reliable data to guide investment and policymaking.
Knowledge is powerful.
By putting this knowledge to use at national and EU level, we can better target our work on cancer.
And by doing so, we can ensure fairer cancer care for people across Europe.
