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#ColorectalCancer: Political will saves lives

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March is European Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month when the 43 member groups of EuropaColon raise awareness about the disease and advocate for equity of treatment and care for colorectal cancer patients.

Every year almost 450,000 people are diagnosed with colorectal cancer in Europe while another 215,000 will die from the disease. Most patients are over 50 years of age: signs and symptoms. Many of these people could be saved by early diagnosis, as colorectal cancer is the most treatable of all digestive cancers. Early diagnosis is most effectively achieved through government led screening programmes.

Formal Population Screening Programmes (FPSP) were proposed by the EU Commission in 2011. This involves an invitation to be screened offered to eligible citizens (50-74). Over the years some progress has been made but even a recent report from the Commission urges that more is done to introduce screening programmes and expand compliance.

Absence of political commitment is allowing people to die unnecessarily.

FPSPs is proven to be a very cost effective means of screening and has the added benefit of considerable cost savings for the health system over treatment for later stage disease.

Unfortunately, only eight member states  are carrying out what EuropaColon considers to be satisfactory progress in rolling out a FPSP in their countries, see Health Check Barometer.

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Professor Stephen Halloran, former head of the Southern Screening Hub for the NHS in England and adviser to EuropaColon, believes MS are failing their citizens. By not making greater efforts to introduce this simple and cost effective screening test many thousands of lives are being lost through inaction. He will expand on this subject in more detail at a meeting on 1 March in the EU Parliament at 13h. (link to agenda)

About us

EuropaColon is a European-wide platform for colorectal cancer (CRC) aiming to raise awareness, support patients, and campaign for equity of access to best treatment and care. 2017 plans include working with the EU Commission on standards of care for CRC patient pathways; re-energizing screening efforts with a dedicated Task Force, composed of countries with excellent screening rates; undertaking a Europe-wide survey of the Unmet Needs of Patients with mCRC. Work will also continue with our member groups to support their local policy and national initiatives. Currently, with 43 member groups in 32 countries, only a few remain outside the fold. In the future, EuropaColon will expand its remit to other digestive cancers. Follow us on Twitter & Facebook

For more information: www.europacolon.com.

Contact: [email protected]

Signs and Symptoms

Barometer:

http://www.europacolon.com/Documents/Uploaded/305-Document-barometermaps2017.pdf

Agenda:

http://www.europacolon.com/Documents/Uploaded/301-Document-Final-Agenda-2017.pdf

https://www.facebook.com/europacolonhq/

https://twitter.com/europacolon?lang=en

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