In France, a new state program for the fight against cancer has come into force, which will receive 1.74 billion euros of funding over the next five years. Le Monde reports about it on February 4.
The new strategy, announced by Emmanuel Macron, is designed for ten years (2021 2030) and has the task of preventing and detecting at an early stage cancer diseases, which in France lead to 157,000 deaths a year. The cost of the new program is 20% more than the total cost of the three previous cancer programs. About half of the 1.74 billion euros will be spent on research.
The new strategy has three goals: to reduce the number of cancers per year by 60,000 cases; Conduct one million additional screenings annually by 2025; decrease in the proportion of patients suffering from relapse five years after diagnosis, from two-thirds to one-third.
Prevention should be one of the main ways to achieve these goals. To do this, it is necessary to identify psychosocial mechanisms that will work, especially among young people. According to Macron, the "top priority" is the war on smoking. “I want the generation that will be 20 years old in 2030 to be the first generation without tobacco in recent history,” the president said.
It is also planned to test more people to prevent possible diseases. Every year in France, 9 million people participate in one of three existing screening programs (breast, colon and cervix). The goal is to bring that number to 14 million by 2025.
A total of about 3.8 million people live with cancer in France, of which 157,000 die each year. Four out of ten cancers are predicted to be preventable if the population adheres to organized screening programs, a balanced diet and regular physical activity.
