Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-10-24-Speech-2-031"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20061024.5.2-031"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
".
Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, we are once again gathered in plenary to debate an issue which affects both public health and the lives of women and families in our constituencies: breast cancer.
Already in 2003, the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality had asked a question on this subject to the European Commission. Commissioner, at the time it was your predecessor, Mrs Diamantopoulou, who took the first steps to respond to Parliament’s requests.
Today, we ask you to recognise the progress that has been made. The Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality is concerned with reducing mortality rates among women affected by breast cancer, improving their quality of life, and providing women and their associations, but also their close families, with information on the risks and treatment of breast cancer.
In this debate, we should also take account of the role of men. Husbands, fathers and their children are also affected by these specifically women’s diseases. I also remember the many parents whose daughters are affected by the disease and who provide them with support.
Within the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality, we are working on the various aspects of the disease in order that one day we might see a Europe free from breast cancer. I am encouraged by the great interest that the committee has shown in this issue. I would like to thank my colleagues for their excellent collaboration, which really deserves to be acknowledged.
Breast cancer is a public health issue that is important for all women in the European Union. Every two minutes, someone is diagnosed with breast cancer. Every six minutes, a woman dies from it. This disease makes no distinction on grounds of race, religion or culture.
We must have the honesty to recognise all the causes of breast cancer, without exception. It would be useful to compare the levels of increase across the Member States, in order to come to a conclusive strategy. All women ought to have easy access to the means of diagnosis and to quality treatment in the early stages, independently of their origin, social status or level of education. In this way, thousands of lives could be saved. This would be an example of truly positive discrimination. It is now crucial to make every woman aware of the risk of the disease, and to increase the resources allocated to breast cancer prevention and screening in the Member States.
Commissioners, like me, you know from experience that the medical equipment is too expensive for regional hospitals in the new Member States. The medical industry is not prepared to make an effort in terms of finances; it is too concerned with making profits. All the same, I ask you to examine seriously the possibility of funding breast cancer prevention through the Structural Funds. The efforts of politicians, doctors and scientists in developing the network of cooperation in all the Member States could enable us to ensure equal access to the means of screening and health care. Only through this close collaboration can the fight against breast cancer transcend ideological divides and personal rivalries."@en1
|
| lpv:unclassifiedMetadata |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples