Association of European Cancer Leagues shared on LinkedIn:
“Today, our Senior Policy Officer Alba Gil spoke at the public hearing ‘Healthy lifestyle influence on disease prevention’ at the Public Health Committee of the European Parliament.
She made it clear that health literacy in preventing cancer is not enough. Policymakers play a key role in creating environments where the healthy choice is the easy one.
People don’t make choices in a vacuum. They make them in supermarket aisles, on their phones and in their neighbourhoods. All of these are environments shaped by products and marketing that increase cancer risk. And the burden isn’t shared equally.
Across the EU, people with lower levels of education are more likely to smoke (19% vs 13%) and to live with overweight or obesity (57% vs 43%).
Doing nothing isn’t cheap either:
- 120 billion euros in direct cancer care costs in 2023, with per-capita spending projected to grow 59% by 2050
- 49 billion euros a year in labour-market losses
- 2.7 million new cases and 1.3 million deaths in the EU in 2024, and cancer is on track to become Europe’s leading cause of death by 2035
We already know what works. The 5th edition of the European Code Against Cancer now speaks directly to policymakers.
On diet alone, it calls for
- Fiscal policies that make processed meat more expensive and whole grains, vegetables and fruit cheaper
- Health warning labels in alcoholic beverages
- Mandatory procurement standards that limit red and processed meat
- An effective, EU-wide front-of-pack nutrition label
The EU also has the mandate to act. Article 168 of the Treaty requires a high level of human health protection in all Union policies.
The evidence is on the table. Now it’s time to make the healthy choice the easy choice.
Watch the recording of the public hearing.”
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