ECCO and its partners are joining forces with the European Commission and MEPs to put forward concrete actions on cancer prevention, to national and EU policymakers in Brussels on 2 February, ahead of World Cancer Day on 4 February.

Hosted at the European Parliament by MEP Glenis Willmott, the World Cancer Day event has been organised by ECCO – the European CanCer Organisation, ECL – the Association of European Cancer Leagues,  and UICC – the Union for International Cancer Control.

The actions include the new Commission guidelines on colorectal cancer screening, a European Week Against Cancer and a common European position on cancer to be put forward to the UN Summit on Non-Communicable Diseases in September 2011.

"There remains a big and specific cancer challenge in Europe because of high rates of cancer mortality between the ages of 35-69 years, around 40-50% for men and 60-70% for women," says ECCO's prevention expert Jan Willem Coebergh, of the European Chronic Disease Alliance and professor at Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam.

One-third of cancer deaths can be avoided through prevention and another third through early detection and treatment according to established EU research. Yet cancer death rates in Europe are still high.

Risk factors that can be effectively addressed include smoking, poor nutrition, excessive alcohol consumption, physical inactivity, access to preventative healthcare, pollution and hazardous working environments.

"There is sufficient scientific evidence on the risk factors for cancers and other non-communicable chronic diseases. Despite that evidence, we still lag behind in tackling their causes. Raising awareness and enhancing the political will to reduce non-communicable diseases through prevention, remains crucial," says Belgian MEP Frieda Brepoels, of the Greens/European Free Alliance.

Efforts to reduce cancer risks vary across EU member states. However, they can be co-ordinated at EU level to avoid duplication and fragmentation.

"Looking at current trends, it is crucial to continue and increase our investment in cancer prevention and research, but also to better coordinate our efforts in this field at EU level, says Bulgarian MEP Antonyia Parvanova, of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe. "Our capacity to address the causes optimally - most particularly environmental and lifestyle factors, can play a significant role in reducing the burden of the disease in Europe."

At EU level, the new Commission guidelines on colorectal cancer will address the third most significant cause of cancer deaths after breast and cervical cancers.

"The new EU Guidelines provide a benchmark for best practice in colorectal cancer screening and should facilitate implementation of colorectal cancer screening programmes in the EU Member States, in accordance with the Council [of Ministers] Recommendation on cancer screening," says Stefan Schreck, head of Health Information at DG SANCO who will be presenting the guidelines.

For its part, ECCO has started work this year leading the co-ordination of one-third of all cancer research in Europe, public and private. This comes under an initiative of the EU Cancer Partnership, launched by the Commission in September 2009.

According to Coebergh, key initiatives for lowering mortality rates include education and awareness programmes promoting lower alcohol consumption – particularly targeting young women; mass screening for cervical cancer from the age of 25 and breast cancer from the age of 45, and programmes detecting hereditary colorectal, breast and ovarian cancers.

"But effective action will only take place if the various member states, the Commission and professional groups such as ECCO, support each other and work together," he says.