BRUSSELS – The European Union on Wednesday proposed a four-billion-euro ($4.8 billion) plan aimed at improving the fight against cancer as the coronavirus pandemic tends to delay diagnoses and access to treatment across the 27-nation bloc.
According to EU's figures, cancer is the second leading cause of death in the bloc, whose population is 450 million inhabitants.
There are about 1.3 million deaths and 3.5 million new cases per year in the EU. An estimated 40% of EU citizens will face cancer at some point in their lives, with an annual economic impact estimated around 100 billion euros ($120 billion). “In 2020, while we were all fighting against the COVID-19 pandemic, many of us were fighting a silent battle," European Commission