The European Parliament adopted a declaration on fighting colorectal cancer in the European Union.

It recalls that in the EU there are over 400 000 new cases of colorectal cancer (CRC) and 200 000 deaths from it per annum. CRC is the second most frequent cause of death from cancer in the EU. It is associated with lifestyle factors (obesity, lack of exercise, alcohol consumption and smoking) and tackling these factors will decrease CRC development. Parliament states that early detection of CRC will not only lead to a reduction in the 40% mortality rate, but will also significantly reduce treatment costs.

The Commission and the Member States are called upon to:

support awareness campaigns in the EU on lifestyle factors which cause CRC, aimed particularly at teenagers and young adults, encourage implementation of CRC screening best practice in all EU countries and to publish progress reports every two years, make dissemination of CRC screening-related research and knowledge a priority in upcoming work programmes of Research Framework Programme 7 and the EU Health Programme, introduce nationwide CRC screening, in accordance with EU guidelines.