UK MUST LEARN FROM OTHER EU COUNTRIES IN FIGHT AGAINST CANCER

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Thu 10th May 2007

Local Liberal Democrat MEP Liz Lynne, co-chair of MEPs Against Cancer, today urged that more must be done to share best practice amongst EU Member States to raise standards of diagnosis and treatment of cancer as well as focusing more on prevention.

Liz has long campaigned against cancer

Responding to today's report by the Karolinska Institute, which shows the UK has the lowest survival rates and the lowest use of new drugs compared with other major European countries Liz said today from Brussels:

"There are preventable cancers and treatable ones which can be eradicated if caught early enough. At the present time, too many people are dying because of poor screening and treatment standards.

"By working together to share ideas and best practice, improved screening and treatment can be spread throughout Europe, closing the gaps which currently exist within and between Member States"

"It is shocking that in the UK only 40% of cancer patients are receiving drugs launched since 1985; NICE and the Department of Health must bare some of this responsibility. "

However, whilst it is important that individuals throughout the UK are provided with the latest drugs, prevention must be the priority;

"One in four people currently die from cancer, even though experts tell us that 43% of all cancers are preventable. Cancer treatment is very complex and costly and today many cancers are still incurable; prevention is best.

"We all have a role to play in encouraging young people to adopt healthier lifestyles and lower their chances of getting cancer, in particular by encouraging healthy behaviour during the early formative years.