Encouraging developments in the area of national cancer screening programmes

The implementation report on the 2003 Council Recommendation on cancer screening, published today, reveals a steep rise in national screening programmes for breast, cervical and colorectal cancer.

Vytenis Andriukaitis, Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, said "Breast, cervical and colorectal cancer claim the lives of around a quarter of a million European citizens each year. Early detection - as well as cancer prevention - saves lives, and so this is where we must continue focusing our efforts. The Council's recommendation and the Commission's quality assurance guidelines have led to most EU countries putting in place organised, high quality screening programmes. This is a major step forward for citizens' health."

Today, 25 EU countries have population-based programmes for breast cancer, 22 for cervical cancer and 20 for colorectal cancer screening, as compared with 18, 17 and 12, respectively, since the first report was published 10 years ago.

Nearly 25 million women aged 50-69 years were invited to mammography screening in the last reporting year, and 110 million men and women aged 50-74 years could potentially undergo screening for colorectal cancer.

In addition to highlighting the status and volume of screening programmes in EU countries, today's report includes a set of essential indicators to document the quality of screening. Read the full report.

For more information:

http://ec.europa.eu/health/major_chronic_diseases/diseases/cancer_en#fragment4

https://www.iarc.fr/

 

SCHEER Opinion on additives used in tobacco products (Tobacco Additives II)

Today, the European Commission and its Scientific Committee on Health, Environmental and Emerging Risks (SCHEER) publish the final Opinion on additives used in tobacco products (Tobacco Additives II). This second Opinion on tobacco additives was requested by the European Commission to assist its work in developing guidelines for assessing individual tobacco additives.

With this Opinion, the SCHEER provides guidelines which include recommendations on the most suitable methodologies and studies that manufacturers and importers of tobacco products should follow. The Opinion also includes a reporting table to be used in studies for the priority list of 15 additives as well as any other additives that may be added to the list in the future.

In line with the Tobacco Products Directive 2014/40/EU and following a previous SCENIHR Opinion (Tobacco Additives I), the Commission has established a priority list of 15 additives contained in cigarettes and roll-your-own tobacco that require enhanced reporting obligations  that is to be updated on a regular basis.

With the "Tobacco Additives II" Opinion, in addition to providing the aforementioned guidance, the SCHEER has analysed major data gaps for the 15 priority additives, in particular, information on toxicity, addictiveness and the characterising flavour and the identification of tobacco products that burn at elevated temperatures (so-called "pyrolysis products").

Health Network adopts guidelines on ePrescriptions

Today at the 6th meeting of the eHealth Network in Brussels, chaired by Austria and co-chaired by the European Commission, guidelines on ePrescriptions for the purpose of interoperability between Member States were adopted.
National health systems are moving towards electronic systems for medical prescriptions. The Commission and EU countries have a common goal to ensure that these electronic prescriptions can be used safely in another Member State. This is why the eHealth Network, made up of all 28 EU countries and chaired by the Commission, has been working jointly on ePrescriptions.
The guidelines lay out the type of data needed to share prescriptions across borders. They also describe how the data should be transferred, provided the patient gives his or her consent to use the ePrescription service. The guidelines can be used by Member States on a voluntary basis.

• More information on the eHealth Network
• More information on Cross-border healthcare

Public hearing on the preliminary opinion concerning Fluoridation of Drinking Water

Fluoride is not considered to be essential for human growth and development but it is considered to be beneficial in the prevention of dental caries (tooth decay). Public concerns about water fluoridation which may lead to excessive intake of fluoride and may be associated with a number of negative health effects, prompted the Commission to seek the advice of its Scientific Committee on Health and Environment Risks.
On 17 September 2010, the Scientific Committee on Health and Environmental Risks (SCHER) of the European Commission will be organising in Brussels a hearing on the pre-consultation opinion concerning the hazard profile, health effects, and human exposure to fluoride and the fluoridating agents in drinking water. The registration for the hearing is now open at:
http://ec.europa.eu/health/scientific_committees/events/ev_20100917_en.htm

The planned hearing aims to complement the internet consultation (launched on 18 June 2010) and to provide stakeholders and the public with an opportunity to present to the SCHER Working Group experts scientific evidence and argumentation on the subject of the opinion. The web page for the consultation may be found at:
http://ec.europa.eu/health/scientific_committees/consultations/public_consultations/scher_cons_05_en.htm
The deadline for submission of comments is 15 September 2010.