“What Role Can the European Parliament Play in Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan? Best Practices on Cancer Prevention across Europe”. This is the title of the roundtable organised on 29 September by I-Com – Institute for Competitiveness.
The event – organised in cooperation with MEP Dolors Montserrat – offered a platform for an open and transparent debate by bringing together fifty high level participants among EU and national key decision makers, research, academic and medical experts, representatives from business and civil society organisations. The roundtable discussed how the European Parliament can contribute to shaping the EU’s flagship initiative – Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan, particularly focusing on best practices for cancer prevention. In particular, as environmental attributes increase the likelihood of cancer, this discussion focussed on methods to improve sustainable mobility, implement healthy nutrition plans, promotion and use of alternative products to tobacco and alcohol, as well as improved access to green areas.
The event was also the occasion to present the study developed by I-Com “Best practice tools to prevent cancer across Europe: Could harm reduction policies play a pivotal role?”, which compares best practice tools to prevent cancer across Europe to look to as an example in the drafting of the Cancer Plan and analyses the answers submitted to the public consultation, which I-Com submitted to.
After an opening address from Stefano da Empoli, President of I-Com and Dolors Montserrat, da Empoli read out a keynote speech from Margaritis Schinas, European Commissioner Vice President for Promoting our European Way of Life. Eleonora Mazzoni, I-Com’s Head of Innovation Area, then presented the results of the study to the roundtable.
An open exchange followed the presentation of the study’s findings. During the open discussion, stakeholders expressed their widespread interest in and support for the harm reduction policies and best practice examples in I-Com’s study. Among the speakers were MEPs Peter Liese, Coordinator for EPP Group in the ENVI Committee, Pietro Fiocchi, Member of the EP Special Committee on Beating Cancer, and Aldo Patriciello, Co-Chair of the European Parliament’s Challenge Cancer Intergroup; Clive Bates, an expert on public health who was formerly Director of Action on Smoking and Health in the UK and a member of Tony Blair’s Strategy Unit; Alba Colmenar, Medical Specialist in Radiation Oncology, La Paz University Hospital of Madrid; Konstantinos Poulas, Associate Professor of Biochemistry, University of Patras, Greece; Heino Stöver, Professor of Social Scientific Addiction Research at Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences.
After the open discussion, a Q&A session moderated by Eleonora Mazzoni took place. The roundtable was closed with the final remarks by MEPs Tomislav Sokol, Member of the EP Special Committee on Beating Cancer; and Alessandra Moretti, also Co-Chair of the European Parliament’s Challenge Cancer Intergroup.
I-Com welcomes the interventions from speakers as well as the audience and calls on all interested parties to join the dialogue and agree recommendations for a manifesto to support the work of the European Parliament and all parties involved in the Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan.