EU structural funds are a mystery for most European citizens and cancer patient groups are no exception. And yet sometimes it is important to know more. How European structural funds work and what opportunities they offer to improve healthcare is explained in a useful Guide recently published by GVG, the German Association for Social Security Policy and Research.

We are grateful to GVG for giving ECPC permission to make the information available in electronic form on our website.

The Guide entitled “Mobilising EU Funding for Health – EU Financing and National Opportunities in the New Member States” is intended to provide insights into how the EU structural funds can be used in the 10 new Member States to accelerate improvement  in health care and help bridge the health divide between old and new Member States.

ECPC urgently alerts its cancer patient group members to the opportunity to campaign now for mobilizing EU funds to improve cancer treatment services and set up cancer screening programmes in their country.

For example, the EU Council Recommendation on cancer screening, adopted in 2003, makes recommendations for screening of colon, breast and cervical cancers (see brief on Council Recommendation on Cancer Screening). Member States are asked to implement the EU Recommendations nationally. However, there is a real danger that funds to set up population-based screening programmes are not readily available or slow in forthcoming in the new Member States.

Cancer patients and their families understand only too well the anguish that comes with a diagnosis of cancer. They make the best advocates for early diagnosis of cancer by systematic screening programmes.  As ECPC’s chair and colorectal cancer survivor, Lynn Faulds Wood, said at the recent launch of the UK National Bowel Cancer Screening Programme: "I survived advanced bowel cancer and I've been investigating how to help save lives from bowel cancer ever since.  Screening, in my opinion, is the best way. It will prevent thousands of people from dying of this common cancer over the years."

EU Structural Funds and Health - What cancer patient groups can do right now!

Understand the opportunity the EU Funds provide: Without an appropriate and explicit national framework for health improvement in place, your government cannot apply for any EU funding for health.

Therefore lobby your ministries and official bodies (addresses are provided in the Guide) to elevate health as an investment priority under the future Structural framework 2007 – 2013.

The European Commission estimates that it takes Member States about two years to elaborate their national programmes for spending EU funds. Make sure your country does so right now.

The starting point of your argument is the known health gap. Structural Funds have been designed to create European economic and social cohesion. In the new Member States people live shorter lives and spend longer periods with a disability. (WHO European Health for All database, January 2002). According to the Paris-based Institute de la Science de la Stanté (ISS) about 25 % of the difference in mortality rates between East and Western Europe has been attributed to inadequacies in healthcare.

Therefore it is now time for cancer patient groups and their allies to knock at official doors to ensure that national programmes identify health improvements as a priority. Cancer Groups need to campaign for the EU Council Recommendations on Cancer Screening to be implemented with the support of EU Funds in your country.

For more information please contact Denis Horgan, ECPC Political Affairs Manager; denis.horgan(add)ecpc-online.org