On World Cancer Day

B100135/2026

European Parliament resolution on World Cancer Day

(2026/2586(RSP))

The European Parliament,

–having regard to World Cancer Day, marked annually on 4 February,

–having regard to Article 168 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU),

–having regard to its resolution of 16 February 2022 entitled ‘Strengthening Europe in the fight against cancer – towards a comprehensive and coordinated strategy’,

–having regard to Europe’s beating cancer plan,

–having regard to relevant Council conclusions and World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations on cancer prevention and control,

–having regard to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, in particular Goal 3 on good health and well-being,

–having regard to the Council conclusions on reducing inequalities in cancer prevention and care,

–having regard to the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, in particular Article 35 thereof, which addresses healthcare,

–having regard to the Council Recommendation of 9 December 2022 on strengthening prevention through early detection: A new EU approach on cancer screening replacing Council Recommendation 2003/878/EC,

–having regard to Rule 167(2) of its Rules of Procedure,

A.whereas cancer is the second leading cause of death in the EU after cardiovascular diseases and whereas every year, 2.7 million people are diagnosed with the disease in the EU;

B.whereas according to the WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), at least 40 % of all cancer cases are preventable; whereas the main risk factors for cancer include tobacco use, harmful effects of alcohol abuse, unhealthy diet, obesity, lack of physical activity, endocrine disruptors, environmental exposures, including to certain categories of PFAS or forever chemicals, occupational exposures, radon exposure, ultraviolet radiation exposure, sleep disorders and infections (e.g. the hepatitis B and C viruses and some types of human papillomavirus);

C.whereas prevention is more effective than any cure, as well as being the most cost-effective long-term cancer control strategy;

D.whereas, despite progress, significant inequalities persist between and within Member States in terms of prevention, screening, early diagnosis, treatment, survivorship and palliative care;

E.whereas patients with rare cancers face challenges linked to late or incorrect diagnosis, a lack of access to appropriate therapies and expertise, a lack of understanding of the underlying science, a lack of commercial feasibility for the development of new therapies, the small number of available tissue banks and difficulties in conducting adequate clinical studies, as well as feelings of isolation;

F.whereas 24 % of all new cancer diagnoses, including all paediatric cancers, across Europe each year are rare forms of cancer and represent a public health challenge in themselves;

G.whereas, according to the report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the Commission of 2 February 2026 entitled ‘Delivering high value cancer care’, cancer diagnoses among younger people (aged 15-49) have increased more widely among women, meaning that a growing number of people – particularly younger women – are living with a cancer diagnosis that requires treatment and monitoring, placing sustained pressure on health and social care services; whereas this specific demographic of young women may face additional challenges and also need their fertility to be protected;

H.whereas Europe’s beating cancer plan provides a strong framework, but its implementation requires more funding and coordination, as well as renewed political commitment;

I.whereas the Mediterranean diet is known as a healthy, balanced diet that plays a protective role in the primary and secondary prevention of the main chronic degenerative diseases;

1.Marks World Cancer Day, observed on 4 February, and expresses its solidarity with all patients, survivors, families, healthcare workers and researchers fighting cancer across Europe;

2.Calls on the Commission and the Member States to renew their political commitment to the full implementation of Europe’s beating cancer plan, ensuring consistency through additional funding and concrete national action, with annual reporting mechanisms and improved transparency on implementation gaps;

3.Regrets the fact that the 2028-2034 multiannual financial framework (MFF) does not have a dedicated health budget line; calls for a dedicated EU health programme, with a dedicated EU cancer fund, to protect public health and support patient and civil society participation in policymaking;

4.Calls on the Commission and the Council to recognise health and cancer care as investment objectives that can be achieved through investment in national recovery and resilience plans, including support for long-term oncology infrastructure such as vaccination and screening programmes, capital equipment, workforce development and robust oncology data systems;

5.Invites the Commission to engage in a structured dialogue with Member States as part of its preparations for the next MFF for the period 2028-2034, in the context of the ongoing review of the EU’s economic governance framework, with the strategic objective of ensuring that investments in cancer prevention and treatments are treated as structural and indispensable, including by exploring appropriate flexibility to avoid long-term prevention spending being discouraged as a result of fiscal constraints;

6.Calls on the Commission to implement measures promoting harm reduction, which could mitigate the pressure on national health systems and contain disease progression;

7.Strongly believes that preventive actions against cancer should be implemented across all EU policies and funding programmes, including through awareness campaigns and measures aimed at eliminating cancer or reducing the harm caused by it;

8.Stresses the need to fully integrate sex dimensions into cancer prevention, screening, diagnosis and treatment;

9.Stresses that childhood cancer remains a rare but high-burden disease with major inequalities in survival rates and access to treatments across Europe; calls on the Commission and the Member States to strengthen EU-level cooperation and funding in paediatric oncology research and increase data sharing and clinical trials, in order to ensure timely cross-border referral to specialised centres through European reference networks;

10.Calls on the Commission to explore all possibilities, including legislative revisions to Directive (EU) 2019/1158 and complementary non-legislative measures, to significantly extend the minimum duration of carers’ leave across the EU, with a particular focus on increasing the current five working days per year to better reflect the prolonged and intensive support needs of families and parents accompanying children or young people affected by paediatric cancers; calls on the Member States to actively contribute to this process by sharing best practice on the more generous national provisions for carers’ leave (paid or unpaid, flexible arrangements, or targeted extensions for oncology cases) and to consider aligning their frameworks accordingly with a view to enhancing work-life balance, reducing the burden on informal caregivers and improving the overall quality of life and treatment adherence for young cancer patients and their families;

11.Calls for the promotion of geriatric oncology as a branch that deserves special consideration and funding, and that needs to be strengthened by scientific research to determine the best treatments and diagnostic methods for elderly patients;

12.Stresses the fact that patients still face many difficulties in accessing high-quality public healthcare services; calls, therefore, for the creation of high-quality infrastructure for treatment delivery, based on European guidelines and in line with the most recent scientific evidence;

13.Calls for strengthened mechanisms to facilitate cross-border access to specialised cancer care and clinical trials, particularly for rare and complex cancers, in full alignment with the Cross-Border Healthcare Directive;

14.Demands fair, transparent and affordable access to cancer medicines and innovative therapies and calls on the Commission to promote price transparency and address unjustified delays to patient access following authorisation by the European Medicines Agency;

15.Calls on the Commission to support Member States in achieving the Council Recommendation of 9 December 2022 on cancer screening and the Council Recommendation of 21 June 2024 on vaccine-preventable cancers, with a view to helping countries strengthen cancer prevention and early detection efforts;

16.Calls on the Commission to ensure that any future EU-level actions on diseases, such as the safe hearts plan, the action plan on rare diseases and Europe’s beating cancer plan, are strongly aligned and complement one another;

17.Stresses the importance of increasing awareness about and the uptake of cancer screening and early detection, as well as genetic testing, among the EU’s population;

18.Calls on the Member States to actively exchange best practice on implementing a right to be forgotten for cancer survivors in the context of access to insurance and credit, and to improve their existing national legislation where necessary to ensure greater protection for cancer survivors across the EU; invites the Commission to assess the current disparities in Member States’ approaches to this issue, including by assessing the implementation of the Directive on credit agreements for consumers, and to publish, if appropriate, a legislative proposal aimed at establishing minimum standards for the right to be forgotten throughout the EU, thereby promoting equal opportunities for survivors and reducing discrimination in financial services;

19.Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and the Commission.