Europa Donna, an EPHA member, has released a press release about the European Parliamentary Group on Breast Cancer (EPGBC) meeting on 26 January 2005 which focused on informing MEPs about the importance of implementing screening programmes that adhere to European guidelines.
Guest speakers from the European Breast Cancer Network (EBCN) and the European Commission Health and Consumer Protection Directorate-General told the MEPs that effective screening programmes need to be of the highest possible standard, be population based, and undergo regular audits by external experts.
To date, eight EU countries have fully implemented national breast screening programmes following European guidelines: Belgium, Finland, France, Hungary, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Sweden and the UK. National programmes are nearing completion in Portugal and Spain, while the roll-out phase continues in Cyprus and Germany and Ireland. Regional or pilot programmes also exist in Austria, Denmark and Italy and in a number of the 10 new EU member states.
Despite this progress much remains to be accomplished before the European guidelines are fully implemented across the EU.
The Resolution on Breast Cancer, passed in 2003, calls for the setting up of mammography screening programmes and multidisciplinary breast units based on European guidelines. It aims to reduce breast cancer mortality by 25% by 2008, while also reducing the disparities in five-year survival rates across Europe from 16% (EU-15) to 5%.
