Digital literacy key to cancer prevention
Innovative technologies and digital solutions are opening new opportunities in making cancer prevention more accessible across the EU – but to tap into their potential, this must come hand-in-hand with digital literacy.
According to Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan, “prevention is better than any cure”.
About 40% of cancer cases in the EU are preventable; prevention is, by a long way, the most cost-efficient cancer control strategy in the long term.
One of the main pillars of the Beating Cancer plan is research and innovation, which looks to bring in technological developments and health data in new ways to create personalised prevention strategies. This way, patients can receive the therapies that work best for them from the beginning.
Last week, a new project was presented by Wendy Yared, director of European Cancer Leagues: Boosting the Usability of the EU Mobile App for Cancer Prevention (BUMPER).
BUMPER’s objective is to offer individuals information on how to reduce their cancer risks. It will aim to influence the audience’s health behaviour by monitoring their habits and helping them adopt changes.
The app will classify users based on their personal information, such as physical information, lifestyle and risk factors, and advise accordingly.
The idea of a mobile app was already pencilled in the proposal of the Beating Cancer plan two years ago and is now starting to materialise. It received €1.8 million in funding from the EU4Health program and will be launched in October 2024.
Improving digital skills
While the app aims to improve accessibility to information on cancer prevention, digital literacy might become a gatekeeper for some.
Therefore, in order to use and disseminate the app, the team working on BUMPER aims to engage with potential users as well as health promoters to train them in digital literacy.
Accessibility to cancer prevention and care is also the main aim of another project under EU4Health: Strengthening eHealth for Cancer Prevention and Care (eCAN).
The project aims to provide a framework of recommendations for integrating telemedicine and remote monitoring in healthcare systems in turn reducing cancer care inequalities across the European Union. Improving effectiveness, efficiency and quality in the prevention and cancer care, particularly for cross-border emergencies and health crises, such as COVID-19, is also among the aims.
For that, the eCAN team is now working on boosting the engagement of stakeholders across the EU, to improve eHealth competencies such as teleconsultation, and telemonitoring services for providers, caregivers and patients.
The need for harmonisation
According to eCAN, the first step in boosting digital literacy is to harmonise telemedicine regulations, which at the moment wildly differ from country to country. Turning telemedicine regulations into cross-border practice within the EU would require big steps from member states.
Cross-border telemedicine is one of the key points the Commission presented in the European Health Data Space (EHDS) proposal in May 2022.
“Where a member state accepts the provision of telemedicine services, it shall, under the same conditions, accept the provision of the services of the same type by healthcare providers located in other member states,” the text proposed by the Commission reads.
The Commission expects the EHDS, one of the central building blocks of the European Health Union, to be finalised by June 2024.
Until now, more than €400 million worth of EU funding has been invested under the EU4Health to beat cancer.
“We have so far launched at least 28 projects covering all four pillars of the plan, and many more are to follow,” said Philippe Roux, from the Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety (DG SANTE) of the European Commission on Thursday (25 May).
On the occasion of European Week Against Cancer, the European Commission presented the projects funded by the EU4Health program, that according to Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides have “encouraged unprecedented cooperation in the area of cancer”.
By the end of 2024, Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan will be reviewed.
This week’s podcast
The need to phase out tobacco farming
Tobacco is responsible for 8 million deaths a year, yet governments across the world spend millions supporting it’s farming industry. On World No Tobacco Day, EURACTIV’s health team talks with Rudiger Krech of the WHO on why it is important to move towards growing sustainable food crops instead of tobacco.
MEPs form a group on psychedelics. Seven EU parliamentarians have formed a new group to steer institutional discussions on the therapeutic application of psychedelics.
Importance of vaccine manufacturing in Africa. Billions of COVID-19 vaccines reached Africa only when rich countries’ populations were vaccinated, but building up manufacturing capacities in Africa could ensure African countries are not left behind.
Investments in vaccination in Africa. In 2022, vaccination against COVID-19 in Africa significantly increased and the number of cases dropped. But African public health experts say there is now a need for long-term investment.
ECDC starts looking for a new chief. The vacancy notice for the next Director of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) was published last week in the EU Official Journal, marking the beginning of the recruitment process for the most senior role in the Centre. The recruitment process for this position is handled by the European Commission, which will provide a shortlist to ECDC’s Management Board for them to appoint the successful candidate. The deadline for the submission of applications is 26 June 2023
EU medicines pipeline news. EMA’s human medicines committee (CHMP) during the meeting on 22-25 May recommended granting marketing authorisation for two medicines – Pylclari and Ztalmy. Pylclari (piflufolastat (18F)), is intended for the diagnosis of prostate cancer. Ztalmy (ganaxolone) is for the treatment of epileptic seizures associated with cyclin-dependent kinase-like 5 deficiency disorder, a genetic disorder defined by seizures beginning in infancy. EMA’s human medicines committee (CHMP) has recommended revoking the marketing authorisation for Adakveo (crizanlizumab), a medicine for preventing painful crises (called vaso-occlusive crises) in patients aged 16 years and older with sickle cell disease. This follows a review by the CHMP, which concluded that the benefits of the medicine did not outweigh its risks. The committee recommended two extensions of indication for medicines that are already authorised in the EU: Opdivo and Sogroya.
Northern Europe countries have the healthiest environments. In an Environment Health Index of over 100 countries by MedicalAid.com European countries – Iceland, Sweden, Finland, the UK and Ireland – took the first five places as having the healthiest environment, with the score reaching over 7 out of a maximum of 10. On the other side of the scale, with 3 times worse scores Iran, Equatorial Guinea, Morocco, Mongolia and Turkmenistan are listed. Bulgaria and Hungary are the worst countries among the countries within the EU that were included in the Index, with just over 4 scores taking 70th and 68 places respectively out of 103 countries. The index was made based on the levels of exposure to lead, ozone, PM2.5 particles and volatile organic compounds in different countries, as well as levels of unsafe sanitation and drinking water, temperature increase and per capita volume of CO2 emissions for each country.
Environment Health Index of over 100 countries. [MedicalAid.com]
Self-Care Coalition launch. On 24 May the United for Self-Care Coalition was launched, a global group of like-minded organisations aiming to achieve universal health coverage (UHC) through codifying recognition of the value of self-care within the WHO to spearhead the development of a WHO Resolution on Self-Care and inclusion of self-care as a meaningful component of progress. “We believe that self-care is a critical component for the advancement of UHC, and we are committed to working with policymakers, healthcare providers, patients and academic partners to promote its integration into the healthcare continuum,” Judy Stenmark, Director General of the Global Self-Care Federation said. The Coalition will work collaboratively to raise awareness of the importance of self-care, promotes evidence-based interventions, and advocates for policies and strategies that support the integration of self-care as a core component of people-centred care and primary helathcare.
Sustainable crops instead tobacco farming. On Friday (26 May) WHO urged governments to stop subsidizing tobacco farming and support more sustainable crops instead. “Tobacco is responsible for 8 million deaths a year, yet governments across the world spend millions supporting tobacco farms,” said Tedros Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. More than 300 million people globally are faced with acute food insecurity. Meanwhile, more than 3 million hectares of land across more than 120 countries are being used to grow deadly tobacco, a WHO press release said. “Tobacco is not only a massive threat to food insecurity, but health overall, including the health of tobacco farmers. Farmers are exposed to chemical pesticides, tobacco smoke and as much nicotine as found in 50 cigarettes – leading to illnesses like chronic lung conditions and nicotine poisoning,” said Ruediger Krech, Director of Health Promotion at WHO. For more, listen to the EURACTIV Health podcast with Ruediger Krech.
Prolonged WHO friendship with FIFA. On 24 May, during the Seventy-sixth World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland, WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus and FIFA President Gianni Infantino signed a four-year extension to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which has been in place since 4 October 2019. “WHO’s partnership with FIFA has already succeeded to share evidence-based messages to help people of all ages lead healthier and safer lives through the power of football and sport. WHO looks forward to continuing this journey,” Tedros said.
COPENHAGEN
Danish government announces healthcare budget increase, new cancer plan. The Danish government has decided to invest heavily in healthcare, announcing a yearly budget increase of DKK 5 billion (€670 million), with an all-new cancer plan and additional investments to ‘restore confidence in Danish cancer treatment’. By Charles Szumski | EURACTIV.com
TIRANA
Albania’s birthrate drops to three-decade low. Albania’s birthrate in this year’s first quarter dropped to lows not seen since the 1990s and decreased by 16.9% compared to the same period last year, according to data from INSTAT published this week. By Isaac Dupree | Exit.al
31 May |World No Tobacco Day.
31 May- 3 June | International Society for Cell and Gene Therapy Annual Meeting, Paris.
2-3 June | 6th Symposium on Neuropsychiatry in Barcelona.
1 June | UN Global Day of Parents
1 June | Launch of WHO Expert Committee on Drug Dependence technical repository.
1 June | European Parliament’s Committee on public health (SANT) meetings.
1 June| Knowledge for Growth life sciences conference in Antwerp, Belgium.
5 June| EuroHealthNet seminar making progress on health equity.
12-14 June| Radical Health Festival Helsinki with TEHDAS stakeholder forum.
13 June | How can we evaluate participatory governance and its impact on health system performance?
20 June | How can we use health system performance assessment to support pandemic preparedness?